Forever Teddy Lupin
by Wizard of night
Summary: The life of Teddy Lupin as he grows up under Harry's watchful eye... Learns to control his magic, his wolf genes, his metamorphic genes and his broomstick...meets girls, meets James, Albus and Lily, meets new friends, and wonders... would his parents be proud? This is a series of flashes as Teddy turns from baby to young wizard, and Harry watches in pride and wonder.
1. The Little Boy Under the Full Moon

Harry Potter rested his cheek against his godson's soft, light brown hair. Teddy couldn't change it at will yet, though it sometimes changed on its own, depending on his mood. The two year old slept on, snuggled tight and warm against his beloved godfather, whose arms encircled him gently as they sat together on the couch. Ginny walked in to the burrow's living room and smiled at the sight of the two.

"We should go," she said quietly, sitting down beside them, "Full moon tonight."

"I know," Harry whispered in reply, "I hate to wake him, though."

Molly came in, an owl perched on her shoulder and a letter in her hand. "From Andromeda," she said. "She wanted to make sure you were set, and tell you she's had to extend her trip. It's going to be another couple of days."

Andromeda, Teddy's grandmother, was in Athens helping an ill friend. Lately, the friend had taken a turn for the worse, and the disease showed no signs of relenting. Secretly, Harry was glad, not that the woman was sick, but that he got to spend extra time with Teddy. The little boy, with his fast changing hair, bright smile and happy giggle, lit up his world. Even at full moon, Teddy was forever making him laugh. Full moon was interesting for the little boy. It was like he was born on the Wolfsbane potion. He kept his mind during the transformations which, to the best of their knowledge, were painless but probably felt very strange. For the night of the full moon, their Teddy was a fluffy little puppy. The only complication was that he was evidently nocturnal, and kept Harry and Ginny up all night with his desire to play, play, play. Such was it that after one inordinately long night, full of short howls and yips and rolling around the floor with a cat size baby wolf, Ginny half-jokingly suggested they try giving him sleeping potion before each transformation. Andromeda had shot her down, and Harry in turn suggested instead giving themselves pepper-up potion each morning, which actually worked fairly well. They coped happily (or at least without too much complaining), each full moon, and while Hogwarts was a mild concern, it was so far in the future that the barely gave it a second thought.

And as Harry prepared to floo back to their own home, Teddy, still human, cuddled against his chest in a state of semi-wake, he couldn't think of a happier environment for the amazing little toddler to grow up in. Ginny stepped into the flames first, after a brief kiss from Molly. Harry and Teddy followed. Certainly the peaceful evening was no indication of what was to come.

What should have been a warning sign, they took as a gift, how quiet he was that night. Harry, stretched out on the couch beside the dog bed Teddy had almost never used before that night, actually got some sleep, and Ginny, upstairs, slept the whole night, not a single howl to wake her. They didn't worry until the next morning, when Teddy woke with a fever and chills.

"I'll owl the ministry, tell them I won't be in today," Ginny said, stroking a shivery Teddy's hair.

"No, I should stay," Harry said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Ginny said firmly, "They need you more than they need me, and you know your head of department will get far more irate than mine will if you miss. Don't you remember last-"

"Last time I took Teddy to a Quidditch game, and it was one of the best days of my life," Harry interrupted, "And I told Too-Strict so."

"I'm sure Madam Toesrick was terribly understanding about that. I'll owl you midday, let you know how he is."

"You'll owl me every half hour," Harry relented.

"Love you, honey." Ginny said smiling.

When Harry returned that evening, it was to a distressed Ginny and a very sick little boy. Even under all the blankets on his bed, he still shivered, clutching his stuffed wolf to him. Whenever he coughed, it came out deep and gasping, and with each sharp bark, his hair flashed deep blue. Ginny put her wand tip to his forehead, muttered an incantation, and watched as the tip took on a reddish glow, which slowly climbed the wand until it was more than half way up. She blew on the tip, then turned to Harry.

"It's a hundred and four Fahrenheit," she told him, "Do we take him to Saint Mungo's?"

"Maybe we'd better. I'll get him ready. Would you owl Dromeda?" he asked.

Ginny left the room, and Harry sat down beside the quivering lump of blankets that was his godson. "Come on, Buddy," Harry said gently, "Let's put something warmer on you."

"Nuh-Uh," Teddy said, burrowing deeper into the blankets.

"Come on," Harry Coaxed, "We're going to a place that will help you feel better. Don't you want to feel better?"

Teddy sneezed. His hair flashed purple. Then he nodded weakly. "Moony?" He asked. Harry nodded and pulled him and his wolf out of bed.

After buttoning his jumper, which was dark blue wool with a centaur stitched on the top left breast pocket, on over his pajamas and digging an extra pair of socks out of his drawer, Harry carried the feverish toddler downstairs.

"How are we getting there?" Ginny asked as Harry arrived in the kitchen. She was tying a scroll of parchment to their owl, Prongs' leg.

Harry frowned. "I don't know," He said, "I guess we probably shouldn't floo with him in this state…"

"No brooms." Ginny added. "That's way too cold for him…"

They looked at each other. "Muggle Underground," They said at the same time.

They both laughed, though it was strained. Teddy sneezed, his hair flaring purple again. "Hat." They announced together. Ginny went and got his favorite, knit by Molly, featuring the crossed bulrushes of Puddlemere United on a navy background.

Teddy slept through the train ride, waking to pull off his hat once they were at Saint Mungo's. He tried to take off his jumper too, but knowing how cold he'd be if he took it off, Harry wouldn't let him. They joined the queue to talk to the welcome witch. As they reached the head of the line, Teddy started coughing again.

"Goodness!" The welcome witch said when she saw his hair. "I've never seen a disease that caused _that_ before! "

"He's a metamorphmagus," Harry explained.

"A metamorphmagus with a very high fever and a very bad cough." Ginny added.

"I see," The Welcome witch said, "Are you his parents?"

"I'm his godfather." Harry said. He glanced pointedly at Ginny, who began pointing the candles floating in bubbles out to Teddy. "His parents are dead, and his grandmother and I look after him," he explained quietly.

"I see," she said again, sympathetically. "You'll be wanting second floor. Just sign here, and look for the Gaspard Shingleton Ward ….Wait a minute….."

She was looking at where Harry had just signed his name. "Thank you very much," Harry said as her eyes flicked up to his scar. He grabbed Ginny's arm and steered them toward the door the witch had indicated.

Several hours later, Teddy was sitting in bed, introducing (in a mix of baby talk and real words) the stuffed dragon Ron Weasley and Hermione had just brought him to Moony. "Fanks to Unca Won, I bwing you…. Nowbewt, da fiwer bweaving dwagon!" He made Norbert ( Harry had suggested the name) fly around Moony (which had also been Harry's doing.). Harry noticed he was talking like the Quidditch announcers at the last game they had been to, which was amusing.

"So, Do they have any idea what this is?" Hermione asked, smiling at Teddy.

"They're not sure yet," Harry replied, "But his fever has already gone down. They're giving him potion and ashwinder eggs."

"As you can see," Ginny said with a smile, "he's perked up quite a bit."

Ron and Hermione had hurtled into the hospital minutes after Harry had sent them a patronus telling them Teddy was in Saint Mungo's. When they had arrived, he was pale and crying in the bed, hugging his wolf while the healers tried to wheedle yucky potions into him. He had been so weak he could barely sit up, let alone breath. His fever had also spiked another couple of degrees, making it dangerously high, even for a wizard. Now, less than an hour later, he was happy and smiling, watching Norbert, who Ron had just enchanted to fly around his bed. The tips of his hair had even turned turquoise. Harry kept thinking how much he loved magic. They wanted to keep him here for a few days for observation and the like, but he was feeling better, and that was what mattered to Harry.

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	2. Where Are They?

It was Teddy's third birthday, and Harry, Ginny, Andromeda, and Teddy were at the Burrow for Dinner. They were joined by Molly, Arthur, Bill, a fairly pregnant Fleur, their two year old daughter Victiore, George, Ron, and Hermione. They were all seated at the table, with Teddy at the head. A grin a mile wide nearly split his face, and his hair was changing colors so rapidly it almost made you dizzy to watch them. Orange, Pink, Turquoise, Red, Gold, Bright Green. Harry waved his wand at the lights, which dimmed, and Molly carried his cake to the table. The cake was really something special. It was in the shape of a dragon, as Teddy was fascinated by them, and it was shaped so when Molly used her wand to light the top, it looked like it was breathing fire. As everyone sang Happy Birthday, and Teddy watched the cake in front of him shoot fire, something odd was beginning to happen. Harry later pointed out that it meant he would be every bit the magician his parents were. Teddy's hair was going faster, DarkGreen,Purple,Magenta,HotPink,Orange,Blonde, and the lights were getting brighter, and his hair was going faster, and the lights kept getting brighter, YelloGreenLimeGreenBlue-Green, and even faster, and still brighter, _AquaTurquoiseCeruleanBlue_ and people had stopped singing and were starting to look panicked, but Teddy _couldn't_ stop it,_ darkbluevioletbluevioletpurp leroyalpurplenavyindigo,_ the lights exploded in a wave of fire and Teddy screamed, and Victiore howled.

"_REDUCCO!"_ Harry bellowed, and the flames soared down into their candles. Teddy whimpered.

Victiore crawled into her mother's lap, "Mommy," she cried, and suddenly, Teddy was bawling.

"I wanna Mommy too!" He cried, "Why haven't I gotta mommy like Victowee?"

Time in the kitchen seemed to freeze.

"Why don't we cut the cake up?" Molly asked kindly.

"No!" Teddy said loudly. "I'm the biwthday boy and I don't even have a mommy, and Vic has one and she's not even fwee! I Wanna mommy!" He put his head on the table, sobbing. His hair was limp and flat and brown. Ginny glanced at Harry and saw his face had changed. He walked over to Teddy.

"Teddy," he said softly, and his Godson looked up. "You used to have a Mommy, and a Daddy."

"But why not now?" Teddy asked, his lip quivering.

"Remember when we talked about how Uncle Fred died?"

Teddy nodded.

"Well, your Mommy and Daddy died too. They died because they loved you very much and wanted you to grow up happy, even if it meant they couldn't be with you."

"So they awen't coming back? I nevew get parents?"

"No," Harry said," But you get me, and you get Ginny, and Grandma, and Molly, and lots of other people who love you very, very much."

"You love me vewy, vewy much?" Teddy asked.

"Very, very, _very_ much." Harry said, giving him a hug.

"I love you to, Hawwy." Teddy said, hugging back.

Once Teddy was asleep, Ginny came into Harry's room. She found her husband sitting on the bed, reading his favorite book for what may have been the millionth time. She sat next to him, and looked with him for a moment at Lilly and James, smiling next to their best man.

"We should make one for him." Harry told her, but his voice sounded distant, as if he were not really in the room. There was no need to specify to whom he was referring.

"I think he'd like it," she replied. She allowed Harry another minute alone with his thoughts before continuing, "How did you know what to tell him?"

Harry thought for a minute. "I don't know, really," he said, "I guess I just didn't want him to be told like I was, and that just sort of…. steered me."

"How were you told?" Ginny asked, though she instantly regretted it, as Harry winced.

"Well," he said after a moment of consideration, "I wasn't much older than him….."

_A skinny, black haired, bespectacled boy of no older than four stands in the kitchen of number four, Privet drive, watching his aunt and his cousin._

_"Here you go, Diddy," the aunt tells the cousin, handing him a thick slice of cake. The black haired boy looks first at his own hands, then at the cake box, both empty. A thought occurs to him. Aunt Petunia was Dudley's mum. His mum, if he had one, would probably be nice to him and not give Dudley any cake, especially if she had seen Dudley push him down that afternoon. _

_Harry turns to his aunt. "Why haven't I got a mum?" he asks, his thoughts blooming. Maybe he did have one, and he just had to ask for one. Maybe his mum would come, and give him lots of cake, and get him new glasses. Maybe he had a dad too. Maybe his dad would come and take him to his work, and give him presents, and yell at Dudley for being bad, like when Uncle Vernon yelled at Harry for burning the toast or making Dudley cry. Maybe they would both come and take him to his own house, and he could have a big room like Dudley. He had seen his aunt and uncle hug and kiss Dudley too. Hugs and kisses looked nice. Maybe his mum and dad-_

_"She's dead." His aunt's voiced breaks into his thoughts and knocked them down flat. "She and your miserable father died in a car crash, and we got stuck with you."_

_Harry feels tears building behind his eyes. "So they're not coming back?" he asks, his voice climbing._

_"Don't be ridiculous, of course they're not. The dead people can never, __ever__ come back. And __don't_ _ask_ _questions__." She snaps._

_Harry goes to his cupboard, puts his head on his knees, and cries. Dudley kicks the cupboard door. "Stop being so loud!" _

"Oh Harry," Ginny said, putting an arm around him and leaning into him. Harry focused on his photo album, not saying anything, but accepting her love. And when she leaned in for a kiss, he leaned into it, grateful once again that he was no longer the skinny boy, alone in his cupboard.


	3. The Story of Daddy and the Boggart

"Hawwy! Hawwy! Ginny! Gwandma!" No matter how loud Teddy screams, there is no one. He's all alone. It's dark, and shadows are moving, and no matter where he turns, all he sees is darkness. His heart is beating fast, and he's crying because he's terrified. "Mommy! Daddy!" He sees something move out of the corner of his eye, and he turns to face it. A huge furry shape rises from behind him, and he screams for Harry again. Then his parents appear out of nowhere. They are running, but suddenly the stop, and even though they try to keep moving, they can't. They reach for him, but they can'tget to him. The monster starts to move closer, and he screams for them, but no matter how hard they try, they can't reach him. Then they disappear, and he starts sobbing, calling for them. Then he hears Harry's voice, coming from far away. "Wake up, Teddy." But Teddy can't wake up, and the monster is moving closer. "Wake up, Teddy." It's Harry's voice again, closer. "Teddy, it's just a nightmare." Four year old Teddy blinks in the dark, but now it's not a scary dark, it's his own room. Harry is there. Moony is there. Teddy sits up and scans the room. There's his wooden bed, his wooden dresser, wooden bookshelf, with all his books and his puffskein, Buddy, in his cage on top. There's nothing hiding in the corner with his toy chest, or behind his cloak on the cloak hook. Norbert, his bear, his unicorn and his centaur were all lined up at the foot of his bed. There were no monsters. He crashed against his pillows and his hair, which had been standing on end and had turned midnight black, settled back on to his head and faded brown.

"Are you okay, Teddy?" Harry asked.

Teddy nodded. "I'm okay, but could you tell me a stowy so the monstews don't come back?"

"Alright. What kind of story," Harry asked, though he already knows the answer.

"Mummy and Daddy." Teddy replied instantly.

The little boy must have heard each story Harry had thought to tell him at least five times, but he never tired of them. "Which one?" Harry asked.

Teddy considered this for a minute. "Daddy and the Boggart," He decided.

Harry smiled. He should have known. "When I went to Hogwarts, I met your Dad. He taught us Defense Against the Dark Arts, so we had to call him Professor Lupin. Do you remember what Defense Against the Dark Arts is"

Teddy's hair turned green in his excitement. "It's whewe Daddy teached you to fight the bad guys!"

Harry smiled again. "That's right, and your Dad taught us all about the bad animals too. On our very first class, he started teaching us about boggarts. Now, boggarts are shape shifters-"

When Harry returned to his own room, nearly an hour later, Ginny was mostly awake, waiting for him.

"He alright?" she asked sleepily.

"He wanted a story," Harry replied, lying down.

"Daddy and the Boggart?" she said, smiling.

"How'd you guess?"

"It wouldn't have been Daddy fights the Dementor, or "Daddy and Mommy Rescue Harry at the Ministry, those scare him. If it had been Mommy and the Aurors, or How Mommy Used to Change Her Appearance Like Teddy, you would have been back before now, and if it had been How Daddy Was Going to Dump Mommy and Run Off With Harry-"

"What!" Harry yelped, "We never told him that one!"

"Got you," Ginny said, smiling sleepily again.

"Git!" Harry said, bopping her with a pillow.

"How Harry Murdered Aunt Ginny with a Pillow…"

"How Teddy Thought He Heard Us Fighting and Got Another Nightmare, And Aunt Ginny Had to Go Spend the Rest of the Night Telling Stories Over and Over Again…."

"Oh, har, har, har," Ginny mumbled as she drifted off to sleep. "Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you please move your ice cold feet?"

A few weeks after Teddy's nightmare, everyone was once again at the Burrow for dinner, and they were all in the sitting room, listening to yet another telling of "Daddy and the Boggart."

"Even though I was scared, I stood strong as I faced the spider. Monstrous, that spider was, twenty feet tall at least, and as wide as the chalk board-"

"Note to self," Harry muttered to Ginny, "Never again let Ron tell a story if he's in it."

Ginny hid her grin.

"-Covered in this thick brown hair. 'Get away, boggart, I shouted-' "

"Weally, Unca Won? Hawwy said you wewe so scawed, you almost falled down."

"Now he's busted!" Ginny whispered.

Hermione was almost doubled over with giggles. Harry was smirking openly now.

"Well, maybe Harry forgot some of the details-"

"Then why is Aunt Hewmyninny laughing so much?"

"Well maybe Aunt Hermione-"

"Give it up, Ron." Ginny advised.

"He got you." George said from the corner.

"You know, I've always said lying got my children nowhere-"Molly began

"I wasn't lying," Ron said heatedly. "I was just-"

"Prevaricating," George snorted.

"Fibbing," Bill said.

"Fabricating," Hermione chipped in.

"Falsifying," Harry said.

"Misrepresenting," Arthur added.

"User d'équivoques," Fleur pointed out.

"Being deceitful," Ginny smirked.

"Stretching the truth." Molly said.

"More like abandoning it." George commented.

"Maybe I was exaggerating a little-"Ron mumbled.

"A little?" Harry said, eyebrows raised.

"All right, all right."

"So how big was the 'pider?" Teddy asked, looking confused.

Everyone laughed.


	4. The Sorting Hat Song

Four year old Teddy stamped his foot and scowled at three year old Victiore. "I get to be Dumbledowe!"

They had been arguing forever, and Vic still hadn't even shouted. It was so annoying.

"But it's my Dumbedore hat," she said.

"But I'm a boy, and I'm tallew, and oldew." Teddy said, irritated.

"It's my hat," she insisted.

"It's my house!"

"Ony sometimes."

"I can get my haiw gwey, though" Teddy said. Actually, that wasn't quite true. He screwed his eyes shut, twisted his mouth, wrinkled his nose, and thought 'Grey hair' harder than he ever had before, but it stayed resolutely his color of annoyance, orange.

Victiore was examining her own hair. "Mine's sorta siver." She pointed out.

"But youw a giwl!" he thought a minute. "Professow Maganigal's a ani- ami- animagagagus. She can tuwn into a cat."

"Oh yeah…" Victiore said thoughtfully.

Teddy could tell he had something. "And she cawwies the sowting hat, and helps call names."

"Weww….. Okay. You be Dumbedore."

"Good." He surveyed the long row of his and Vic's stuffed animals. Then he took the little cloth sorting hat Aunt Ginny had made. He turned generously to Victiore."Hewe. You put it on them." He looked again at the stuffed animals. "Wewcome to anothew yeaw at Hogwawts, but fiwst, we have to sing the sowting hat song." He looke quickle at Victiore. "Vic," he whispered. "What's the sowting hat song?"

"Make one." She replied quietly.

"Okay.

"Sowting hat, Sowting hat

I'll put you in Gwiffindow if you awe bwave.

I'll put you in Huffelpuff if you awe nice.

I'll put you in Wavenclaw if you awe smawt.

And I'll put you in Slythewin if you awe a big fat meanie.

Sowting hat, Sowting hat Sowting hat."

He took bow. Victiore considered him for a minute.

"I think it's supposed to rhyme."

Teddy thought. After a second, he said. "Cat and bat rhyme."

"And hat and fat."

Harry, Ginny, Bill and Fleur were listening from the other room. Quietly, and using the same made up tune as Teddy, Harry sang

"Professor McGonagall turns into a cat.

Professor Snape looks like a bat.

Professor Sprout has patches on her hat.

Professor Flitwick is kind- of- fat!"

Bill laughed. Ginny and Fleur rolled their eyes.

"Now lets stawt the sowting. Wewewolf, Moony." Teddy announced. Victiore balanced the hat on his soft, furry head. "GWIFINDOW!"

Victiore slipped it over her unicorn's horn. "Unicorn, Mowwy. RAVENCAW!"

Teddy's turn. "Dwagon, Nowbewt. GWIFINDOW!"

"Puffskein, Wucia. RAVENCAW!"

"Beaw, Stuffy. HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Vic, sweetie, it's time to go home." Fleur announced, entering the room.

"Mum, we were sorting-," Victiore complained.

"Finish it later," Bill ordered.

Vic complained all the way to the fireplace.


	5. Kind Of A Little Bit Maybe Sorta

"Aunt Ginny, awe you sick?" Five year old Teddy asked, looking up from the floor, where he had been staging a battle with his many plastic dragons.

"No," Ginny said, looking up, startled, and ceasing rubbing her stomach. "Why do you ask?"

"You fwowed up this mowning, and you keep wubbing your tummy. And, you look kind of a little bit maybe sowt of fat."

Ginny hid her smile. "Harry!" she called.

Harry came running into the room. "What's wrong?" he asked anxiously.

"He asked." Ginny said.

Harry smiled and bent to pick Teddy up.

"She's not sick, is she Hawwy?" Teddy asked, his big brown eyes staring up in worry.

"No, sweetie," Harry replied. "Ginny is, well, she's-"

"Going to have a baby." Ginny said, smiling at Teddy.

"You're going to be a big brother." Harry said, and it was more or less true.

Teddy frowned thoughtfully for a minute. Then his hair turned a brilliant blue, then pink, then green. "You mean I can play Quiddit with him, and show him Moony, and play Hide and Seek and Gobstones and show him to Victiowe and Dominique?"

"Eventually, yeah." Harry replied.

"Wow! Is it a boy ow a giwl?"

"We don't know yet…"

"I bet it's a boy. Whewe is he?"

"Um…" Ginny glanced at Harry. "In my tummy."

Teddy pouted, " So that's why youw kind of a little bit maybe sowta lookin' kinda fat. He's no fun in thewe. I can't play with him. How'd he get in thewe anyway?"

"Ummm…" Ginny mumbled.

"Hey, Ted," Harry said. "I think Puddlemere United is playing the Wasps today, go get the paper and I'll check."

"Okay!" Teddy said brightly. He ran from the room, overturning a chair as he ran.

Harry and Ginny looked at each other. "He is so like his mother!" Ginny groaned.

"Very little subtlety, and he can't go five minutes without sending something flying." Harry agreed.

"We can't avoid that subject forever, you know." Ginny said.

"I know. Speaking of which, have you told your mother?"

"No…. I was enjoying my eardrums while they last…"

"Come on," Harry said. "Five galleons she'll be thrilled."

"You're on, but I still don't want to tell her." Ginny mumbled.

"You're going to have to tell her sooner or later." Harry pointed out.

"Later." Ginny said.

"Would you like to feel your eardrums after she figures it out herself?" Harry asked, patting her stomach. "You're not getting any slimmer, you know."

"Well thank you, Mr. Obvious."

Teddy ran into the room. "I don't see it," He said.

"Look in the kitchen." Harry told him.

He ran out again.

"Harry," Ginny said slowly.

"Hmm?"

"You don't mind that I'm kind of fat now, do you? I mean-"

Harry interrupted her. "Kind of a little bit maybe sorta lookin' more lovely than ever." He pulled her into a hug, next thing, their lips met. He could just feel the slight lump of baby between them-

"Yuck, Hawwy." Teddy said from the doorway, holding the newspaper.

They pulled apart, Ginny grinning. "Sorry, Teddy." Harry said.

He and Ginny shared a smile.


	6. For The First Time

"He looks like you." Ginny said, smiling at Harry and her newborn baby boy for the first time.

"Liar." Harry retorted, from his seat next to her in her bed at Saint Mungo's.

"But the hair…."

"The eyes are yours, the shape of his face, are you kidding, he's already got a dozen freckles. And you're saying he looks like me."

"Actually, I think his eyes are more hazel…" Ginny commented, staring into the new baby's eyes with a dreamy look on her face.

"Like my dad." Harry said, also looking adoringly at the baby. "Your nose, though."

"Is not!"

"Look at us." Harry said, laughing, "The poor thing doesn't even have a name yet, and we're fighting over him-"

"Not fighting, and he came three weeks early, how were we supposed-"

"Ginny." Harry interrupted, " How would you feel about Sirius?"

"Sirius?"

"I think Sirius James has a nice sound to it." Harry said.

"He'd be teased for Sirius…"

"Are you Serious?"

"See?" she said," I really like the sound of James, though…."

"Would you be okay with James Sirius?" Harry asked.

"If it means so much to you…." Her smile had never been wider. "James Sirius Potter… I love it."

"Are you sure? There's no going back, you know."

Ginny stared at the baby for a long moment. He made a soft, snuffling noise and waved his fist toward her. "It's perfect."

"James Sirius Potter." Harry said gently, unable to take his eyes off him.

Ginny grinned. "Take him." She said, shifting the little boy toward him.

"Are you sure?"

"I know you want him." she slid James gently into his arms.

Harry looked on in wonder, as he held him for the first time. Never had he felt something so fragile, so soft and wonderful and innocent. Then his waving fist caught Harry in the nose at exactly the same angle Teddy's quaffle had the day before, and it started to bleed.

"Trubble, dis one." Harry said around the hand stemming the blood flow.

"Aren't you one to talk." Ginny said, handing him a tissue. "Is it bad?"

"No, in fact-" he felt it gingerly, "I think it's stopping."

"Are you ready for everyone?" Ginny asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Why don't I floo to Dromeda and Molly?"

"And Ron and Hermione, and Bill and Fleur." Ginny added.

"Everyone is going to love him."

"Why don't we get George, too?"

"Perfect."

* * *

"What's wong with it?"

When he was older, Teddy was mortified when told what he said the first time he saw James. But he was too small to be real.

"Why isn't his haiw changing? And how come he's so small?"

"He can't change his hair like you can. And he's small now, but soon he'll be as big as you." Ginny explained.

"And he'll think you're the best big brother ever." Harry told him.

"He'll look up to you," Ginny continued, "And you can teach him to do all sorts of things."

"He'll love you." Harry said, smiling.

Now Teddy felt more excited. He could feel his hair begin to change. "Can I hold him?"

"If you sit on Grandma's lap."

* * *

Teddy's hair was going faster. Taking it as a warning sign, Harry said, "Calm down, buddy. The hospital doesn't need it's lights exploding."

"George!" Harry yelped frantically.

"Don't you dare!" Ginny shouted.

"Teddy just wanted to see him float." George said sulkily, stowing his wand back in his pocket.

* * *

"Oh, Ginny, he's adorable!" Hermione squealed, tickling under Teddy's chin.

"Typical Weasley," Ron observed, surveying him. "Freckle after Freckle."

"He's got the cutest little nose." Hermione said.

"Speaking of which, whose nose?" Harry asked.

"It's a little shorter than either of yours," Ron said, "Kind of snub too."

"I think it looks like Lilly's." Hermione said.

"You've got a point," Harry said, examining it.

"Well done, Mate," Ron said, clapping Harry on the back.

* * *

"That's my little brother." Teddy said proudly to Victiore.

"He's cute." Vic said.

"He's got freckles." Teddy said. "I can do freckles now, look." He screwed his face up, and could feel dots start to appear.

Victiore said thoughtfully, "Dominique has freckles, and red hair. Her freckles aren't green, though."

Teddy grew his nose just long enough to see the tip of it. "Oops."


	7. Helping James

"Hey Haw- Harw-Harry!"

"Hey Teddy! Working on your "R" Sound?"

"Yep! Racing bwoom, Red Dwagon, realistic!"

"You're getting there" Harry said with a smile.

"Can we play Quidditch? I've been pwacticing that too."

"Sorry, bud. I've got to run and get some stuff for James."

Teddy watched with a frown as his godfather disappeared into the fire. He climbed the stairs and found Ginny changing James's diaper.

"Aunt Ginny, will you play Quidditch with me?"

"Not now, Teddy. Jamsie needs a nap."

Teddy stomped back down the stairs and out into the orchard. He ambled to the tree where Harry had hung a swing for him, only to find it had been replaced with a baby swing. He felt anger and hurt boil inside him, felt his hair flair red and his stomach churn. Suddenly, with a loud crack, the swing fell to the ground. "Oh No!" he said in panic. He hadn't meant that to happen. What if Harry was mad? He tried to put it back with his hands, but it fell back to the ground. What was the spell Harry used to fix things? Repawto? "Repawto!" He shouted, jumping up and down. "Repawto! Repawto Wepawto Wepawto Wepawto Wepawto!" The swing caught fire. Teddy started to cry. This wasn't supposed to happen., and the fire scared him. He started to run towards the creek, put realized he had nothing to hold water. He sank to his knees in the grass and started bawling.

"Aguamenti" a voice behind him said firmly.

Teddy turned to find his godfather extinguishing the fire with his wand. "I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't mean to!"

"I guess you weren't feeling too happy with James." Harry stated, not unkindly.

Teddy shook his head and looked at his feet.

"Did I ever tell you I once set a boa constrictor after my cousin after he shoved me?"

Teddy shook his head, his eyes wide.

"That's not the worst of it." Harry said with a chuckle. "Once I inflated my aunt Marge."

"Really? So you're not mad at me?"

"Of course not. You can't control your magic yet."

"I am sowwy, though."

"That's fine, and sorry, Teddy."

"Sorry." He amended.

"That's better. Why were you mad at James?"

"You like him better, and you never play with me any more."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Teddy. I definitely don't like James more than you."

"But you spend so much more time with him!" Teddy exclaimed.

"That's because he's a baby, and babies are a lot of work. You were too, at James's age, though between you and me-" Harry leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "- You never snorted baby food out your nose."

Teddy giggled, remembering lunch the day before.

"And remember, James needs you." Harry continued.

"He does?"

"Yes. He needs you to help him with the things he's too small to do."

"He does?"

"Yep. He's really going to look up to you, Teddy."

Teddy's hair turned yellow as he thought about it.

"Teddy, can you make it go green yet?"

Teddy nodded brightly and turned it lime, then avocado, then emerald. "Which is best?"

"I liked the last." Harry said, smiling. "Matches my eyes."

"Lookit this." Teddy morphed his nose a little shorter, his hair a little messier and black, his eyes the same color his hair had been a moment before.

Harry grinned. "Pretty neat trick."

"Just cause I can't do glasses….."

"You're still pretty good. Oh, and Teddy-"

"Yeah?"

"I hung your swing right over there."

* * *

Several hour later, Ginny walked into the kitchen to find Teddy standing tip toes on a chair, rooting around in the cookie jar. Chocolate crumbs already covered his face.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, "I think one's enough, Teddy."

"But I'm helping James!" Teddy replied, wide eyed with innocence. "He's too little to eat cookies, so I have to help him. Harry said!"


	8. Christmas Surprises

"JAAAAMMMMEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS" Teddy shrieked. He had entered the living room of his godfather's house to find his god brother, not quite two, attempting to mount his prized Firebolt 3000. The seven year old sprinted the length of the room, his socked feet sliding on the hardwood floor, and yanked the broomstick from James's hands. He examined it frantically, straightened a few tail twigs, rubbed peanut butter smudges off the handle with his shirt, and decided no real damage had been done. He frowned judgmentally at the little boy, who still looked mildly alarmed at being caught. "If you'd wanted me to teach you to fly, I woulda. Just ask next time."

"Has he been at your broomstick again?" Ginny asked, appearing at the doorway.

"He has," Teddy replied, shooting the baby another look of irritation.

"Have you ever considered putting it away?" Harry asked, joining them.

"He takes it from my room," Teddy sulked.

"We'll try to keep him away from it. Would you pick up your toys? Everyone's coming over for Christmas Eve tonight," Ginny said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot it was Christmas!" Teddy exclaimed, jumping up.

"You really do amaze me sometimes." Harry mumbled.

Teddy ran from the room, James toddling after him, leaving Harry and Ginny standing in the room.

"If only we could get him to fly that fast every time we want him to pick his room up." Harry cracked.

"Mmm." Ginny said.

"Something up?" He asked.

"Do we really have to tell them all about it tonight?"

"We could leave the book of baby names on the couch and run for it, because that worked so fantastically well with James."

"Sure, but you'd better book our beds in Saint Mungos first, I don't think my ears can take another hour of Mum screaming like she did with that."

"Your ears? Think of James's"

"James… Harry, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Are you thinking that alarmingly loud crash from his room was probably a bad sign?" Harry asked.

"No, I was thinking he could…. You know…"

"Ohhhhh. Now that's a thought…."

* * *

Teddy, Victiore, and Dominique were sprawled on the floor. Five year old Molly sat on her father Percy's lap. James sat at his mother's feet with his year old cousins Lucy, Molly's little sister, and Fred, George's son. Charlie and Percy were meeting baby Louis for the first time, and Bill looked quite proud for another chance to show the little boy. Ron was telling yet another story, something to do with beating Harry at chess, and the adults, Harry in particular, were getting restless.

Harry nudged Ginny. "Another five minutes of him and I'm asleep. I thought we weren't letting him tell any more stories?" He whispered.

"Distraction time?" She murmered back.

"Ready."

Ginny leaned over to James and whispered, "Remember what you get to tell Grandma?"

James grinned and nodded. He stood and toddled over to Grandma Molly. He reached up and pulled at her shirt. "Gramma," he said quietly.

"Not now, James." She hissed, "I'm um… listening."

"But Gramma-"

"Tell me later James."

"No, Gramma-" he said slightly louder.

"Go sit by Mummy, James." She snapped.

"NO, Grandma, I gotta tell secret!" He shouted.

Now he had the entire room's attention. "Some secret." Ginny muttered to Harry.

"Yes, James?" Molly said, sounding slightly exasperated.

"I hafta teww you, I gonna be a big brudder." He announced.

"That's nice, now- Wait a minute, what?"

"I gonna be a big brudder." He repeated.

"WHAT!"

James folded his arms and yelled at the top of his lungs, "I GONNA BE A BIG BRUDDER!"

"Kay, Jamsie, we got it." Ginny muttered.

"Ginerva Weasley, are you-"

"No, Mum," George scoffed. "It's Harry!"

"Quiet, George! Really, Ginny?"

"Yes, Mum." Ginny said, sounding mildly exasperated.

"But- How- Who- What-"

"Honestly, Mum," Fred shot, "If you don't know how after seven kids-"

"And as for who-" Bill said with a slight smirk.

Unnoticed, Ron had beckoned James over and whispered in his ear. He was now tugging the back of Molly's shirt. "Gramma!" he whispered.

"Quiet, James, I'm busy. You mean you're actually-"

"I thought we'd established that." Ginny mumbled.

"Gramma, I gotta-" James interrupted.

"Watch your mouth Ginny, In a minute, James, and when-"

"GRAMMA!"

Molly turned around. "WHAT, James?"

"Unca Ron says Auntie Hermyowninny too!"

"Uncle Ron says Auntie Hermyowninny- Hermione- what?"

"Her too!"

"Her too…." Molly swung around to face Ron and Hermione. "WHAT!"

Ron's ears were turning redder than his hair. "I, I mean we, I mean, technically it's Hermione, but she- we-"

"I'm pregnant." Hermione interrupted.

"What- you-"

James tugged on Molly's shirt. "Grandma!"

"Not a bloody nother one!" She shouted.

"I-" James started.

"I mean, a contraceptive spell takes two bloody seconds-"

"Grand-"

"We can do the spell, Mum-"Ginny interrupted.

"Quiet, This is ridiculous-"

"GRANDMA!"

"WHAT, JAMES!"

"I wanna sippy cup." He said meekly.


	9. I Miss Them

Teddy Lupin had been there for the whole chaotic scene. The happiness and delight and embarrassment and laughter washed over him, flowing like a river, in waves like an ocean. But he didn't feel happy. His parents must have told everyone somehow. Told Granmum, told Harry, told the Weasleys. Once, there must have been this excitement and laughter for him, the promise of him. He pictured his parents, happy and laughing, then he pictured them being dead at Christmas. Did the dead know when it was Christmas? Could they feel it? Teddy glanced at the clock; he still had time before bed. Noticed by no one, he slipped away.

* * *

"- and then he said- Gin?"

"He said Gin?" George asked.

"No- Ginny, Is Teddy in the bathroom, or-" Harry said, looking around.

Ginny scanned the room over the head of sleeping James. "I don't know, he was just here, wasn't he?"

Andromeda stood. "Teddy?" she called up the stairs.

Harry climbed them, glanced into the bathroom, checked Teddy's room. "Ted?"

He could hear Ginny bumping down the stairs beneath him. "Teddy," he heard her call.

Andromeda peered into the yard. "Teddy, love!"

The three adults met in the hall and drew the same conclusion from the stricken looks on the others' faces. Teddy was gone.

* * *

Teddy, on the other hand, knew exactly where he was, but that didn't make it any less frightening. He was plodding down the darkened street towards the department store on the other side of town. When he reached the door, the clerk who was just exiting looked at him in a disgruntled manner. "We're closing in 20 minutes."

* * *

Ron looked panicked, Hermione worried, Molly terrified. Harry was subconsciously pacing, and Ginny was in tears.

"He can't have just disappeared." George pointed out.

"We'll find him." Bill soothed.

"Did we check ze basement?" Fleur asked.

Percy suggested, "We could call the ministry."

"We could floo Hogwarts too, see if they have something."

"You could owl some of the Aurors, Harry." Arthur said.

"Yeah," Ron piped up, "Carter or Steph would help in a heartbeat, and Abe owes me a favor…"

"Or," Andromeda said in disgust from the doorway, "We could follow these distinctly child size foot prints in the snow, and see where they take us."

* * *

Teddy wandered through the store, knowing where he was going but not how to get there. It was scary, being alone. Finally, just ahead, he spotted an elf. He ran after the elf, catching up to her at the end of the aisle. "Hey," he panted, "I gotta see Santa."

"He's packing up to go h- back to the North Pole." The elf said, smiling. "Would you like a candy cane?"

"It's really important," Teddy persisted, looking up desperately.

"All right, I'm sure he can squeeze in one more." The elf relented. "You know it's a very busy night for him."

"I know." Teddy said seriously. "Harry said his reindeer can fly faster than a thestral. I don't know why he bothers with chimneys when he could just floo and not get all cold-"

"What?" The elf said, but fortunately for Teddy, they had reached Santa's chair.

* * *

"Why would he leave?" Ginny asked.

"Could he be getting jealous again?" Harry said.

"I don't see why, I mean, we told him when we told James." Ginny replied.

"Hold on." Andromeda commanded from the front of the line. "We're getting to close to the center of town, there are too many prints."

The church bells downtown started ringing, and you could just hear the choir beneath them, and the commotion of voices from a nearby pub. A cold wind blew softly, and Ginny clung to Harry, fear rising in her chest.

* * *

"We've got one more, Santa," The elf said loudly, and Santa turned around, hastily pulling his beard back on.

"Oh- Ho Ho Ho. What can I do for you, young man? Do you want a firetruck tonight? Or a new set of blocks?"

"Not really." Teddy said. "Instead of a toy, could you do something for me?"

Santa laughed. "A-Well, little fellow, that would depend on what something is."

"I need you to tell Mummy and Daddy something."

"Well, that can't be to hard. Where are they?"

"They're dead," Teddy said, "But Harry says you're even magicaller than him, so you you can talk to them, right? All I need you to do is tell them Merry Christmas, and that their son Teddy really loves them."

Santa's face had changed. "Sure, sonny. I can do that." He said gently.

Teddy beamed "Thanks."

He turned and navigated his way back out of the store.

Santa and the elves stood, watching.

* * *

Teddy nearly ran head into his guardians as he walked back home. "Theodore Remus Lupin!" Harry thundered, "Where have you been!"

Teddy winced. "Talking to Santa. I wanted him to tell Mum and Dad I miss them."

"And you thought you could just- Oh. Oh. Well, take us with next time." Harry said.

"Okay." Teddy said.


	10. Things You Never Knew

Teddy saw her before she saw him. He was outside his godfather's house, poking around the woods and creek in back when he noticed the girl. She was on the opposite bank, doing exactly the same. He had just enough time to check his hair color, sandy brown, and change his eyes to his normal dark brown (he had been experimenting with purple and red earlier.) before she looked up and noticed him. Teddy jumped across the rocks leading across the river and extended a grubby hand. "Hi. I'm Teddy Lupin. I'm seven."

The girl smiled and shook. She had light brown braids, green eyes, and a light spattering of freckles across her nose. "I'm Erin Black. I'm seven too." She pointed off behind her, where Teddy spotted a boy about his size scaling a tree. "That's my twin brother Mathew." Mathew looked up at his name, then jumped down from his tree and jogged over.

"I'm Teddy." Teddy told him.

"Mathew." He replied. Mathew looked a lot like his sister, but without the braids. "We just moved here."

"This is my godfather's house. I'm here most of the time, except when I'm with my Granmum."

"Oh," Mathew said, "What about your parents?"

Teddy shifted uncomfortably. "My mum and Dad are dead, but it's okay, because I don't really remember them."

"It's the same with my Dad." Erin said. "Mum says he just left one day, and she didn't know him for very long."

"Oh." Teddy said. He changed the subject, "Do you like to play Quidditch?"

"What's that?" Mathew asked.

"It's a sport. You play it on your broomstick."

"How do you play with a broom?" Erin questioned.

"You know, you fly on it." Teddy said.

"Fly?" Mathew said interestedly.

"Haven't you ever played before?" Teddy asked.

"No." Mathew said, shrugging. "I'm great at soccer, though."

Teddy's eyes widened. Harry had told him about soccer, it was a muggle sport. If they didn't know about Quidditch, were they muggles?

"Teddy, love, come in for lunch!" Ginny called.

"Who was that?" Erin asked.

"My Aunt Ginny. Would you like to come for lunch? She makes quite good sandwiches."

"Well, I'd have to ask my mum, but I'd like to." Erin told him.

"I'd like to come too. My mum's a doctor, so she hasn't got much time to cook." Mathew said.

"I'm sure it will be alright. We'll be right back." Erin promised.

Teddy tore into the house. "Ginny, Harry, guess what!" he called.

"What's up, Teddy Bear?" Harry said, thumping down the stairs with James attached to his hip. Ginny followed.

Teddy was too excited to object to being called Teddy Bear."When I was out playing I met some kids. They're twins, and they're really really nice, and I think they might be muggles because they don't even know about Quidditch, but Mathew jumped from really really high and he didn't get hurt, so maybe they just don't know about it because they haven't got a dad. And we can be best friends now because they live right behind us-"

"Slow down, Ted." Harry said, looking slightly perplexed. "What are their names again?"

"Erin and Mathew Black."

Harry coughed in surprise and nearly dropped James. He and Ginny exchanged significant looks. "What does their dad do, again?"

Teddy looked exasperated. "I told you, Harry, they don't have a dad. I think they said their Mum only knew him a little while before he left."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other again, but Ginny said, "And you think they're Muggles?"

"I don't really know, because their Mum's a nurse and they can't fly and they don't play Quidditch and Mathew does soccer, but he was soooo high in the air when he jumped down and he didn't even say ouch, and they feel like magic."

"They feel like magic?" Harry asked.

"That's what I said. I've invited them to lunch."

Harry and Ginny's eyes widened. "You've invited them to lunch?" Harry said incredulously.

"Why are you repeating everything I say?" Teddy asked. "James does that enough. I told them what good sandwiches you made, and asked them if they'd come. They've gone to ask their Mum."

Harry and Ginny shot each other dubious glances, but Harry said, "What can it hurt? Go out and meet them, Teddy."

The minute Teddy's sandy brown head banged out the door, they were in full conversation.

Ginny said panickedly, "Do you think-"

"I don't know, it would be so like Sirius to shag some muggle girl and not bother to check the results-"

"The timing's about right too, I mean, if he escaped from Grimuald Place just before he died-"

"They'd be just a little older than Teddy, maybe not even eight yet." Harry finished.

"And assuming it was a muggle, they've been raised as muggles, but they could still be magical, which would explain Teddy's 'feel like magic'."

"Raised as muggles- Bloody heck, Ginny!"

"What- Oh." She glanced around at the enchanted clock on the mantle, the blue flames in the fireplace, the cauldron spitting green liquid, the dishes doing themselves in the sink, Prongs in his cage on the windowsill and Kreacher, who had just scuttled out of the room. "Why don't we have a picnic?"

"You're brilliant."

Jessica Black had walked her children over to meet Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and wound up staying for sandwiches and watermelon and hastily transfigured chocolate frogs. While she was a very nice young woman, probably in her thirties and greatly resembling her children, it couldn't have been much more obvious that she was a muggle.

More concerning to Harry was the fact that Mathew's jawline and both children's noses looked a good deal like his godfather's. He decided to investigate, and was looking for an excuse to question Jessica when she commented, "Teddy is so polite and well behaved, he must be a wonderful son."

Ginny smiled and replied, "Yes, thank you, he's a wonderful boy, but we aren't quite his parents."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I'm afraid his parent's passed away when he was younger than James." Harry said. "James is ours, though, and as you can probably see, we have another one coming." He said, smiling and patting Ginny's belly.

Ginny knew exactly where her husband was going with this, and she continued, "Are Erin and Mathew your only children?" She asked, watching them play tag with Teddy among the trees.

Jessica nodded. "I've always wanted more, but the circumstances under which the twins were conceived were, well, not very traditional, I mean to say, we weren't actually married, and well, I've changed." She said hastily.

"I'm sure." Ginny said with an understanding smile.

"I hope you don't mind my asking," Harry said slowly, as though it had just occurred to him, "But something about your children looks familiar, what was their father's name?"

"I doubt you've ever met him, he lives out in London, or he did, but his name is Sirius Black."

Both husband and wife managed to keep their expressions under control, but Ginny could sense her husband's excitement rolling off him like ocean waves.

"No, I must have been thinking of someone else." Harry said quickly, maybe a little too quickly, because she raised her eyebrows as though she suddenly doubted him.

Ginny broke the tension quickly with another strategic question. "I do say, he's gone quite high, should we get him down so he won't fall?"

Jessica squinted up at Mathew, who was indeed dangerously high in the tree, and said, "No, I don't think we'll need to. He shouldn't go any higher. I have to tell you, I sometimes think those children are made of rubber; Mathew's fallen from much higher and been perfectly fine, while Erin managed to fall from the roof when she was five, heaven knows what she was doing up there, or how she got up, for that matter, but she practically bounced to the ground, not a scratch on her."

"I know what you mean." Ginny said brightly. "Very resilient, children. It's the same with Teddy. Another thing with him," she said with a glance at Harry, "I sometimes think he can talk to animals. Maybe it's just a little boy thing, but our cat, Dobby, does practically whatever he wants, and it's a very aloof cat."

"You know, it's the same thing with the twins. I used to think it was unusual, the things they can convince our dog to do, but I figure it's just the number of treats they sneak him."

Harry decided that was enough evidence to sway him. It was time to change the subject. "What kind of dog?" he asked.

"Oh, we aren't exactly sure what breed Toby is, but I've always thought part German Shepard."

"Yes, I had a mutt as a teenager, Padfoot. He was a big shaggy black thing-"

Unnoticed by Jessica, Ginny shot Harry a grin, and he squeezed her hand back. Both were thinking of Sirus. Things they'd never known. They carried on talking till it was nearly dark, to a cheerful background of the children's shouts and yells.

* * *

Later, Harry told Teddy sternly, "You're not to talk to Erin and Mathew about magic just yet. I believe you may be right, and they are a witch and wizard, but their Mum doesn't know about magic, and I can't have her children knowing before I can find a sensible way to tell her."

Teddy nodded as if he understood, but grabbed his plastic quaffle on his way out the door. "Teddy!" Harry barked.

He turned and looked at him. "What?"

"Your hair!"

Teddy tugged a turquoise lock down in front of his eyes. "Hm." He changed it black, then turned back to the door.

"Teddy!" Ginny shouted after him.

"What!"

"Wasn't it sandy brown yesterday?" she asked.

"Yeah, so what?" Teddy said impatiently.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Muggle hair doesn't change overnight!"

"Oh." Teddy said, and morphed it yesterday's color.

He'd made it to the front step before Harry shouted, "Teddy!"

"Wh-at?"

"Your eyes."

"What about them?"

"They're orange."

Teddy shrugged. "Not anymore."

He turned once again, but Harry called after him, "Teddy!"

"Whaaaaaaat!"

"Leave the quaffle here."

Teddy hurled the red ball back into the room, then ran for it before anyone could notice he had one of his Puddlemere United T-shirts on.

Harry shook his head at Ginny. "It's a good thing children his age don't notice much, and when they do, they accept it and move on. Did I ever tell you about the time I jumped onto the school roof?"

Ginny grinned and shook her head.

Harry leaned back in his chair. "There were these rather nasty friends of Dudley's, Pierce and Malcolm, and they had a whole nasty group of friends who liked to pick on me as a sort of sport. I believe the time in question, they had threatened to jam my head in the toilet, and I was only seven, so what could I do but run…"

_Harry's breathing comes in gasps as he rounds the corner of the school building. He can hear Pierce and Dudley and Malcolm and Kyle and Lord knew who else gaining on him, and not a teacher in sight. He takes a running leap at the large dumpster beside the building, hoping to make it over and land behind without hitting his head on the wall or breaking any bones, and vaults over it. Much to his surprise, he lands, not behind the dumpster or even atop it, but on the roof. Had the wind caught him mid jump? It isn't a terribly windy day, but suddenly there is a much more pressing matter to deal with._

_"Harry Potter!" The sharp voice of Assistant Head Teacher Mr. Fredrick barks up at him._

_He never could remember how he managed to get down, but next he knew, he was being dragged into the Heads office. The following conversation was not the slightest bit pleasant._

_"So you thought you'd climb school buildings, eh?"_

_"Oh, no sir, you see-"_

_"I don't want excuses!"_

_"It's not an-"_

_"Don't interrupt!" The Headmaster interrupts. "Do you know how much trouble the school could get into if you hurt yourself?"_

_"No, Sir."_

_"Keep your mouth shut, boy!"_

_"But you asked-"_

_"I said Keep Your Mouth Shut! I can see the lawsuits now! And do you know who I can guarantee you would be paying those lawsuits?" The Headmaster asks with a nasty leer._

_Harry kept his mouth shut._

_"Answer me, boy!" Headmaster yelled._

_"But you said-"_

_"I know what I said. Answer Me!"_

_"I don't know, sir."_

_"Useless, idiotic boy, your parents will be paying it!"_

_"My parents are actually-"_

_"Don't interrupt. Your _legal guardians_ would be paying it, out of your pocket money, no doubt!"_

_"I don't get any-"_

_"SHUT UP! I'm tired of your excuses. You're suspended!"_

_ "I-"_

_"QUIET!"_

Ginny winced. "Ouch. Suspended at seven?"

"Wasn't the first time. I got ISS for a day in first grade when I turned my teacher's wig blue, and a week in my cupboard. They couldn't actually prove it was me, but they got me for cracking the window twice in both first grade and kindergarten when I was angry, they assumed I'd thrown something at them, so they already had me down as a troublemaker. Point of the story being no one even registered the magic."

"You turned your teacher's wig blue?" Ginny asked, smirking.

Harry grimaced. "If I remember correctly, I thought blue was a secondary color because it looked like purple and green, and the argument got a bit heated."

Ginny tried desperately not to laugh. "Things I never knew."


	11. A Short Lived Catastrophe

"You have to come to our birthday party, Teddy." Mathew said sternly. "Mom says we can have a clown, and my cousins and my friends Dan and Carter and Erin's friend Kendal and Leah and some of my Mum's friends are coming, and we get cake and ice cream."

"I'll come," Teddy assured him.

"Can you ask Victiore if she'll come as well?" Erin asked hopefully.

Mathew nodded enthusiastically. He and Erin had met Victiore over the summer and they had played together several times since.

"My mum says we can't talk about the magic and stuff while we're around the others." Erin told him.

"That's alright." Teddy said.

"Erin, Mathew, Come in for bed, loves."

The two made faces, but turned and ran for the house. "Wait," Teddy called after them. "When's the party?"

"Sunday!" Mathew shouted back.

"See you then!"

Teddy and Victiore paced around the Potter's house in their party clothes. Neither had admitted it, but outside of family, they had never been to a birthday party before. Teddy's hair was an off shade of mauve, a clear sign he was nervous. It clashed horribly with the red and orange windbreaker and ironed jeans he was stuck in. He wasn't sure where Ginny had found the jacket, as most of his clothes had snitches or dragons or Quidditch emblems or moving pictures on them. The same was true for Victiore, and Teddy thought she looked quite nice in her white blouse and grey pants. He was also worried because his hair refused to stay mauve, which was a rotten color anyway. He had come down with a bit of a cold, and every time he sneezed, it turned green. Both had four wrapped presents, one magical and one normal for both Erin and Mathew. They planned to give them the magical ones after the party, when the muggles had gone. Teddy had a caged puffskein for each, as they adored Buddy, and their dog had died over the summer. They were custard colored, like Buddy, and Mathew's had big brown eyes while the other's were blue. His cover presents were a soccer ball, which he thought Mathew would be quite pleased with anyway, and a stuffed cat for Erin. Victiore had opted for games, with a Wizard chess game for Erin and a rather nice set of glass Gobstones for Mathew. She had also had Bill conjure them each a pair of roller skates, and Teddy had had the idea to get Harry to make some for him and Victiore so they could use them together. He thought wheeled shoes sounded quite fun.

"Hey Teddy," Victiore interrupted his thoughts for the millionth time, "Do muggles know about nifflers?"

"Victiore," he said in exasperation, "Why would a subject like nifflers come up?"

"It might." She said. "Do they?"

"I don't think so."

Barely a minute passed before she spoke again. "Hey Teddy, what games do muggles play at parties?"

"I don't know all of them, but Mathew's been going on about Pin the Tail on the Donkey, which I figure has to be the same as pin the horn on the unicorn, only different, and Erin says she's really good at charades, which sounds like you act something out and other people guess what it is."

A few minutes later, Victiore said, "Hey Teddy?"

"_What_, Victiore?"

"You know how you said they're going to have a clown?"

"Yeah."

"What's a clown?"

Teddy was silent for a moment. "Vic, I haven't the foggiest."

The twins were waiting to greet the Potters at the front of their house. "What's with the hat?" Mathew asked Teddy.

"I've got a cold." Teddy informed him grumpily.

"So?" Erin asked.

Teddy could feel a sneeze building anyway, so he yanked off the rather warm wool hat just in time to reveal his hair flash emerald.

"See?" He said, jamming the hat back on his head. "It's terribly hot."

No one answered because muggles had begun to arrive.

Inside, one of Mrs. Black's friends, Erica, stared uncertainly at Teddy. "Wouldn't you like to take your hat off, dear?"

"I'm sorry," Teddy replied politely, "But I can't take it off when I'm ill."

"But why- Oh, Oh you poor dear, alright then."

As Teddy shrugged and went back to speaking to Mathew and his friend, he heard the woman say to another, "Must have cancer, the poor child. I wonder how bad it is-"

Harry turned to Harry to ask what cancer was, but found his godfather preoccupied. James had hold of Harry's glasses and was running away with them, and he was unable to see where he had gone. Ginny was nowhere in sight.

Teddy ducked through the crowd after James, and found him in Mathew's room. He managed to tug them away from his godbrother without breaking them. He then scooped the little boy up and made to return to the party, but was intercepted by Ginny, who ducked her head out of the bathroom door.

"Teddy, I need you to go tell Harry that my water broke and I need help."

Teddy stared at her. If she broke her water, why didn't she just use her wand and repair it? But he shrugged and said, "Okay."

Downstairs, He found Harry and gave him his son and his glasses. He told him, "Ginny needs your help fixing her water."

Harry stared at him. "Huh?"

"She's in the bathroom. She just said her water broke and she needed help."

Harry's eyes widened. "Bloody Hell. Here." He shoved James at Teddy and ran up the stairs.

James looked wisely after his father. "Boody Heww," he repeated.

"Quiet." Teddy told him, wondering how water could break. Did she mean ice?

Teddy slipped into the other room with James attached to his hip. There an alarming sight met his eyes. Victiore was at the front with the clown, pulling yard after yard of linen out of his hat. The clown looked way too amazed for it to be an act.

The clown gagged at her, "How are you doing that?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, pushing a lock of silvery blond hair out of her eyes.

"It wasn't supposed to be that much!"

Teddy, sensing impending disaster, jogged up to the front of the room and scolded her, "Vic, I know you got a magic kit for Christmas, but do you have to be such a show off?"

Victiore got the message, and muttered, "Sorry, Teddy."

Teddy made to drag her out of the room, leaving a perplexed clown in their wake, but he only reached the doorway before his godfather came barreling out of it, tripped over Teddy and nearly knocked Victiore flying. He stared at the mountain of cloth for a minute, shook his head like he didn't want to know, crossed the room and whispered something in Jessica's ear. Her eyes widened and she smiled at him, then Harry turned back to Teddy, James, and Victiore. "We're leaving," he told them quietly, "Ginny's having the baby."

The older children grinned up at him, and they were hustled out of the room. They had been at the party less than 20 minutes.


	12. A Break In the Game

Erin Black searched the skies, debated for a moment, then made her decision. "That one," she declared, pointing high into the sky. Her brother followed her finger up the towering redwood and scoffed, "No problem."

He scaled the tree with apparent ease, walked carefully out onto the branch, then leapt twenty feet downward to the ground, landing with a flourish. He smirked challengingly at Teddy. "Beat it."

"You're on," Teddy replied with a defiant smirk. "Victiore, you pick."

"Fine…. That one."

Teddy gulped when he saw where she was pointing: a slender, arching branch about thirty feet off the ground.

The climbing was easy, and fun It wasn't half as bad as he'd thought. He edged his way out to the middle of the branch, and was preparing to jump when

-_SNAP_ **_CRUNCH_** "OWWWWW!"-

Harry looked up from his coffee and newspaper and met Ginny's eyes. "Ted." They said simultaneously.

"Do we check on him?" Ginny asked.

"Why bother? If he's fallen off a log and skinned his knee, he'll get up and keep playing. If he's stolen my broom again and fallen and hit his head, someone will run and get us."

"Good point-" she glanced out the window. "I think it may be the second one…"

She threw open the door for Mathew, who was red-eyed and sobbing, out of breath from his long run up the hill. "Mathew, sweetheart, what's happened, what's wrong?" She pulled him into a hug.

"It- It's all my fault." He sobbed, his breath coming in gasps.

"What is?" Harry asked, standing.

"We were jumping, and I dared him, and he was gonna jump- but the branch broke- and now he's not moving- and he's all bloody-"

Ginny's heart jumped into her throat, but she told the sobbing boy gently. "It's alright, we can fix him. It's not your fault, just sit here, and we'll bring him up, alright?"

Mathew nodded, and she and Harry jogged down the hill.

Harry got to the clearing they'd been playing in first, and the sight he met there caused his breath to catch. Teddy lay pale on the ground, his head at a very wrong angle. His arm was thrown out in front of him, and it appeared the lower half of the upper arm bone had jammed itself through his skin and up nearly as high as the other half. His sleeve was torn and soaked with blood, which was slowly spreading to the dirt on the ground around him. Erin and Victiore were standing behind him, looking scared and uncertain. Harry dove to the ground beside Teddy, searching frantically until he found the steady beat of his pulse. Thank Merlin, he thought silently.

"Ginny!" he called, for he had just come up behind him. "He's alright, I'll get him up, can you owl Saint Mungo's, let them know we're coming?"

"Of course," she muttered weakly, staring at Teddy for a moment before she turned back up the hill.

"Go up behind her," he told Erin and Victiore, "She'll send you to Molly's until Mrs. Black gets home."

"Is Teddy okay?" Victiore asked fragilely.

"He's going to be fine," Harry assured her as he conjured a stretcher.

Once they had left, Harry stared at his Godson. This was going to be interesting. He conjured splint and bandages for his arm, but didn't want to try and set it- that was really going to take professionals. The shoulder looked dislocated too- his wrist and collar bone were probably broken as well. He braced his neck, but really, he didn't even want to look at it. Harry managed to maneuver him on to the stretcher, which he floated carefully ahead of him as he made his way back from the house.

Teddy sat glumly on the hospital bed in Saint Mungo's as his godparents lectured him. This really was turning out to be his day. Mathew had had a better jump, that Skell-Grow had tasted awful, his arm was throbbing and in a sling, cast, and brace- 3 hand bones broken, 2 in his wrist, his elbow, his upper arm had broken into three pieces and part had pushed through his arm, part through his shoulder, which had indeed been dislocated. His collar bone was snapped, and he had broken two vertebrae in his neck. They said he'd be able to move his legs again by tomorrow, and the sling for two weeks. Some day this was turning out to be.

"-don't care how brave you were trying to be, it was ridiculously irresponsible to even attempt to stand on a branch that thin, do you know what could have happened?"

"We could have lost you, Ted, you need to think before you do things like this!"

"If you pull another stunt like that, I'll take away your broomstick for longer than I am now, and your chess set to boot-"

"We're going to have to ground you at least until you have that cast off, Teddy. For one thing, you shouldn't use it until it's completely healed, for another you deserve it. Climbing like that was reckless and irresponsible, and if I didn't think you'd suffered enough- "

He tuned out. He was stuck here for the rest of the day anyway, and Ginny had already said Mathew, Erin, and Victiore were coming to see him…. Maybe he could figure out how to do a one handed wheelie in his wheelchair.


	13. Eight

Eight year old Teddy heard a shout of laughter from the kitchen. Not wanting to miss anything, he came running. He found Harry standing next to Ginny, who was doubled up with laughter.

"What?" Harry said. "Come on, Ginny, this isn't fair. What is so hysterically funny?"

"Per- Per-" She couldn't stop laughing. "Percy- He's- Oh, Merlin, I can't even say it."

She shoved the piece of parchment in her hand at him. Harry read, "Dear Ginny,…sorry I haven't written….blah blah blah, that I, your favorite brother, yeah right, blah blah…. Have gained the position….. DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS TEACHER!" Harry stared at the paper a moment longer, then he too burst into laughter.

* * *

Ginny awoke in the middle of the night to… barking? Oh, it was full moon. Barking? She pulled her dressing gown around him and ran downstairs to see the small wolf baring his teeth at a wizard who had his wand drawn. "Merlin's sake, Ginny, call off your dog!" minister of magic Kingsley Shacklebolt yelped.

Ginny yawned. "That's Teddy," she explained. "Theodore Lupin, go lie down, and I want you to apologize to Minister Shacklebolt as soon as you can talk again!"

The wolf whimpered, his tail curling between his legs as it sulked out of the room.

"Sorry, you must have scared him," she said brightly, "You'll be looking for Harry, then? Hope it's not anything serious…"

Madness. The world was utterly mad. Teddy Lupin never understood why the minister seemed a little nervous around him after that, he couldn't remember full moons very well…

* * *

"Teddy?"

The brown haired boy remained fast asleep, his arms curled around his ragged grey wolf.

"Teddy? Wake up," Harry commanded.

"Mmhmphm," Teddy mumbled.

"Teddy, you have to wake up."

"Don' wanna…. Sh' Saturday, Harry, why're you here…"

"Come on, bud, you aren't going to want to miss this…"

"Goway Harry, 'm tired."

"Well, if you want me to go away, that's fine, but I thought you'd like it if I took you and your Gran to a Quidditch game… It's perfectly alright if-."

Out of bed… pajamas off, t-shirt on, jeans on, socks on, feet in shoes. "Seen my sweater, Harry?"

"-you'd rather sleep in," Harry finished. "Guess not. Look under the couch."

* * *

Harry sat listening to his children. They really could be funny, if he wasn't _trying to work_.

"Teddy, what'cha doin'"

"I'm reading, James."

"Can you get me a cookie?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because Harry and Ginny would be mad."

"Why?"

"Because they don't like you to have sweets to close to dinner."

"Why?"

"Because it spoils your appetite."

"Why?"

"Because you don't have enough room in your stomach for real food."

"Why?"

"Merlin, James, go find something to do."

Silence…

"JAMES GET AWAY FROM MY BROOMSTICK!"

* * *

Teddy frowned at the leather-bound book in his hand. Harry had taught him to read, but this was a terribly hard one…

He muttered to himself under his breath, "not because it is a-a-ag-ress-ive aggressive, but because few wizards have sukkeded- Sucseede- succeeded in dom- domes-domesticating it."

"What are you doing, Teddy?" Victiore asked.

"Just reading," he replied.

"Ted?"

"Yeah?"

"Dare you to kiss me!"

Teddy stared at her. "I'm getting tired of breaking bones, Vic."

"Double Dare!"

"That's what the tree thing was."

"Fine, triple dare!"

He shrugged and stood up. Victiore giggled and ran off. Teddy stared after her. Girls were really quite strange sometimes.

* * *

"This is a toy broom, Albus, can you say broom?" Teddy wheedled.

"Ack!"

"No, Albus, broom."

"I don't think he's going to say it." Mathew said from the couch, just above where Teddy was kneeled beside Albus.

"Broom, come on, Al. Broom."

"Boog."

"He's trying! Broom, Albus. Brooooom!"

"Bwooom!"

"He said it! HARRY! GINNY! ALBUS SAID BROOM! I TAUGHT HIM TO SAY BROOM!"

"Bwoom?"

"What?"

"Hab Bwoom!"

"Oh, here."

"Wheeee!"

* * *

Teddy tumbled out of the green flames on to the braided rug. Brushing ash off his jeans and gray and red shirt, he called out, "I'm here, Gran."

He paused, waiting for the usual footsteps, wet kiss, critiquing of his clothes (didn't I see you in that shirt yesterday? Those sneakers should have been thrown out months ago!), and offering of tea and biscuits. It didn't come. "Gran?" He kicked off his shoes and checked the kitchen. There were no breakfast dishes in the sink, no kettle on for tea. Maybe she'd gone across the street.

Without bothering to put his shoes back on, he stepped out in the cold rain. He padded across the street to the coffee shop with its faded awning, and peered through the window. The shop was empty.

He ran back across the road, shaking water from his hair as he did so. Back up the splintery wooden porch steps, back inside. "Gran?"

He climbed the stairs to the second floor, looked inside the dark bedroom. "Gran?"

There she was… on the bed. Had she decided to sleep in? He walked cautiously toward the bed. "Gran? I'm here…. Time to wake up. This is a bit hypocritical, don't you think? You always call me lazybones when I have a lie in… Gran?" How odd, she wasn't moving. "Gran?"

She let out one ragged breath. "Teddy-" but then she was gone.

He touched her hand, it was growing cold. "Gran? Gran, I mean it, wake up! Gran? GRAN?"

* * *

There were a million people at the funeral, or so it seemed to Teddy. Every one had something nice to say about Gran. One wizard got up in front of everyone and told how brave Gran was, how she had stood up for what she believed in. Teddy didn't think she was all that brave; she was afraid of spiders. A witch in a long green robe said things like calm, quiet, and unshakable. She used a lot of big words, but Teddy didn't agree with what he understood. Gran wasn't a bit quiet, especially when he tracked mud into the house. He had only met Gran's sister, "Auntie Narcissa", a couple times, but he had never liked her much. She and her husband spoke about blood and nobility and ancestry. She knew Gran wasn't overly fond of her sister either. He knew she really hates Lucius. Gran had never told him why, though. He wondered if it was true, that Gran never would be able to tell him. He knew that was her body up there, knew her house had been sold, knew she was dead. But it was odd to think he was to live at Harry's all the time now. He wondered if Gran missed him.


	14. For the Wolf

"Ah, Potter," the familiar gargoyle in front of the headmistress's office sneered, "We wondered when we'd be hearing from you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ginger Newt."

He ascended the stairs to the familiar office, then knocked thrice on the door.

Professor McGonagall opened the door immediately, and Harry smiled and greeted her, though inside he felt rather sorry for Teddy. The tall, grey and black haired woman dressed in green and black robes before him had, if anything, grown more intimidating than the last time he had stood in this office. True, he had seen her plenty of times since, but she looked much less… formal when wearing casual robes and not liable to give him a detention.

Honestly, he expected the first words out of her mouth to be, 'Potter, what have you done this time?,' but instead, she casually asked how Ginny and the kids were.

"Fine, actually, and thank you for taking the time to meet with me, but Ted's not growing any more slowly, and I was hoping to speak to you about his education."

"Of course, it should be easier than when his father was here, shouldn't it?"

Harry smiled with relief. "You'll definitely accept him, then?"

The elderly witch surveyed him over her spectacles. "Unless Mr. Lupin has plans of becoming a psychotic madman in the next year or so, I daresay he will make a creditable addition to our school, yes."

"About full moons-"

She shuffled a few papers on her desk and pulled out a spare length of parchment. "He is not a true wolf, correct?"

"Erm, yes, but he definitely transforms, and he is very active at night. He has never been a danger, however, and he rarely comes out of a transformation injured."

"So how much class will he miss, on these occurrences?" She asked.

"Well, he transforms as the moon rises, but changing back is a little bit more gradual, usually he's alright by nine or ten o'clock, but it depends on the season. The transformations and being up all night in general, so it would be helpful if he could have the rest of the day, or at least afternoon, to sleep."

"I believe that can be arranged. That's much simpler than I thought, Remus would take a few days to turn back, then he'd be covered in sores and bite marks. Are the transformations painful at all?"

"They are a bit. He makes a fair bit of noise while transforming, I'll tell you that. The neighbors all think they're hearing cat fights if I forget to soundproof, then he keeps us up half the night romping around, knocking things over," Harry said.

"So, are you telling me it would be difficult to keep him in the school?"

"It has occurred to me," Harry agreed.

"So what if we were to fix up the basement of the shrieking shack for him, make it so there was more room to run around, and a little nicer as well?"

"That sounds fantastic, if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Not at all. Magic, you know, I doubt it would take half an hour, if you helped."

"Of course."

"We could do so today, if you liked. Just to get it out of the way, we could bring him in and see if he likes it."

"Sounds fantastic. There's just the one other thing…"

"Yes?"

"He's terrifically shy about it. He worries what others will think if they know, afraid they'll think he's dangerous."

"It seems likely to me they'll find out eventually, but we needn't broadcast it."

"Thank you," he said gratefully.

* * *

Teddy looked warily around the room beneath the little house in the village. The passage had branched off to a basement level which was as large as the Quidditch pitch, and the ground was soft and grassy. There was a medium size red ball suspended by a rope from the ceiling, just like he had at home to play with as a wolf. A clear, cool stream dotted with large, smooth stones ran along one wall, disappearing into either end of the room. The far wall slanted towards him in an avalanche of bulky, gray rocks to climb on. In one corner there was a rack for the clothes he had to remove before he transformed, and a large, ornate clock so he would know the time when he woke up. A large pane of glass in the ceiling showed the sky outside and let some light into the room. That was good because it would be dark when he transformed, and light hurt the wolf's eyes, yet he preferred not to wake in darkness.

"What do you think, Teddy?" Harry asked anxiously, monitoring the ten year old's cautious observation of the room.

"It's wonderful," Teddy murmured quietly, kneeling down beside the water. "It wasn't too much trouble, was it? I wouldn't have-"

"Didn't take a minute, Ted. Professor McGonagall's a genius, she just listened to my ideas, waved her wand a few times, and Poof; instant wolf-zone."

"It's brilliant, Harry, it's just-" he stopped, and dipped his hand into the stream, letting the water run through his fingers.

Harry sat down beside his godson. "Just what, Teddy?" he asked, suspecting it had little to do with the room.

"What if the other kids do find out? I mean, not even Mathew and Erin and Victiore know! What if they decide I'm some sort of dangerous freak?"

"Your friends would never think that, Teddy, they've known you too long. I don't know what new people will say, but you need to keep an open mind. My dad wouldn't have dreamed of deserting your dad, and he even became an animagus just to be with him and make his transformations easier. Do you know what your Mum told Ginny once, before your parents were married?"

Teddy shook his head, He'd known about James Potter (the first) for as long as he could remember, but this was new.

"You know your Mum and Dad started out as just friends, and your dad thought they should stay that way because he was afraid of hurting her, right?"

Teddy nodded again. Harry had never provided much detail here when he told the stories, preferring to rush into the happily almost ever after ending and very brief mention of the battle.

"Well, that upset your Mum for a bit, and she talked to Ginny often. One afternoon, she told her, 'If Remus could get his bloody head out of the ground and stop thinking of himself as a werewolf, he'd notice that no one else does.'"

Teddy grinned slightly.

"You can be as much like your father as you like, just don't think of yourself as a wolf, and no one else will either. You're intelligent, you're a great flier, you're handsome, you're funny; any part of being a werewolf comes way behind that, and they'll all learn that soon enough, if they don't learn it first off."

"Thanks, Harry."

"Any time, bud."

They sat quietly for a few more minutes before Teddy said, "Hey Harry?"

"Yes, Teddy?"

"Would you tell me the story of how you got picked for the Quidditch team again?"

Harry sighed, lay back on the grass with his eyes closed, and began, "It started with first year flying lessons. Neville was a little bit pathetic back then, he's admitted it himself, so a bully called Draco Malfoy had plenty of excuses to pick on him. On this day in particular, Neville had just managed to take a nasty fall off his broom-"

Teddy relaxed beside his godfather, wondering if Hogwarts would be as fun as Harry made it out to be.

**_Author's Note: _**

**_ As is made obvious in this chapter, Teddy will be starting Hogwarts soon. I have a pile of ideas taller than I am on things for him to do there, though ideas and/or requests from my wonderful readers are always welcome. I'm going to be beginning a new story with an actual plot line using the same characters as this one, title to be determined, while this one will continue to be one-shot excerpts. I'll let you know when it has been posted so those who are interested can read it. I assure you, Teddy's Hogwarts experience should be worth the wait. Just to be clear, this story will definitely continue!_**

**_Thanks for reading, and an extra special Thank You to those who have left reviews!_**

**_-Wizard of Night_**


	15. Down the Alley

"Harry! Ginny! Come here! Quick, look! I got my letter! I got my Hogwarts letter!"

Harry came thumping down the stairs, grinning. "Did you think they'd forgotten?" he asked happily.

"Look!" He insisted, waving it in his godfather's face.

Harry squinted at the letter before him, smiling in fond remembrance as he read,

Dear Mr. Lupin,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours Sincerely,

**_Filius Flitwick_**

Filius Flitwick

_Deputy Headmaster _

He flipped to the second sheet of heavy parchment where he found the list of supplies:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells(Grade 1)_ by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot

_The Fear of the Mark: History of the First and Second Wizarding _Wars by Corey Blake

_Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration (Second Edition)_ by Emeric Switch, edited by Albus Dumbledore

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scammander

_Powers Dark, Powers Bright, and Creatures of the Night_ by Mortimer Stolle

_Hogwarts, A Revised and Complete History_ by Hermione Granger –Weasley

OTHER EQUIPTMENT:

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Harry looked up, smiling at Teddy. "Well, you know what this means?"

"Diagon Alley!" Teddy whooped.

"Right! Why don't you run over to Mathew and Erin's to see if they've gotten theirs, then we can all go together.

Teddy disappeared out the door, his hair flaring turquoise.

The three children eagerly bounced up and down as Harry drew out his wand to tap the bricks at the entrance to Diagon Ally. "Would you calm down?" he asked, though he was actually rather amused. "We have to do robes first anyway, Madam Malkin's closes in an hour."

Once all three had been fitted for their new Hogwarts robes, they entered the bookshop. They had not expected to be excited in here of all places, but Mathew, Teddy, and Erin soon found themselves weighed down with books not on their list. Teddy practically threw himself at Harry's feet as he begged for the revised edition of _Quidditch Through the Ages_. He was also quite keen on an illustrated second edition of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, as well as what happened to be the very same defense books Sirius and his father had bought Harry when he was fifteen. Harry rather thought he would have had to drag them from the shop had he not mentioned they were going to the Magical Menagerie next.

The shop was dark, smelly, and full of odd noises and glowing eyes. This did not stop James (who had caught up with them with Ginny after a short excursion to the cauldron shop, where Ginny had bought their cauldrons, as well as a new one for the family.) from attempting to open several of the cages, finally succeeding in freeing a three and a half foot tall barn owl. As the shop attendant chased the owl while Harry in turn chased James, Ginny watched as the children examined the different tanks and cages in awe.

Erin selected her animal first, an orange and white Scottish Fold kitten with wide, hazel-green eyes.

Teddy was next, after Ginny discovered him staring at a magnificent brown Tawny owl.

Mathew's gaze was torn between a rather handsome black Screech owl and a sandy brown Crested Toad, but with Teddy's assurances that he would be able to use the owls at school, he decided on the toad. Teddy had told him before that toads were considered rather stupid, not that he saw anything wrong with them, but this was quite a nice toad, and it fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. They concluded pet shopping with a box of treats and living space for each pet.

No one wanted to stop, but Ginny insisted that it was lunch time, and Teddy gave in after the promise that the meal would include a stop at Florean's, the icecream and sweet shop that stood where Fortescue's once had. After lunch, they spent some time deliberating over icecream flavors. Teddy had the least trouble, having visited the shop many times before. He settled on his favorite combination: Honeycomb with clotted cream, and chocolate. Mathew went for peanut butter and chocolate covered strawberry, and Erin opted for the blueberry pie crumble and treacle tart flavors.

Most exciting was yet to come: The trip to Ollivander's, the wand shop.

Wystan Ollivander was an average height, middle aged man. He was quite thin, with white hair and pale, round eyes. He looked much like his father, the previous owner of the shop.

Harry seemed slightly nervous as he told Ollivander, "Three eleven year olds, today."

The man set about measuring them, then disappeared into the back of the shop. He returned many minutes later with an armload of slender boxes. "You!" he said, beckoning toTeddy.

Teddy shuffled forward, and Mr. Ollivander removed a wand from a box and handed it to him. "Cherry Wood and Dragon Heartstring, precisely nine and three fourths inches, nice and supple. Go on, give it a wave!"

Teddy was beginning to feel significantly like he would rather not have a wand after all, but he took a deep breath and, feeling a bit silly, waved it in front of his face, only to find it snatched from his grasp to be replaced with another.

"Aspen and Unicorn Hair, a little over twelve inches, pleasantly springy."

Teddy swished it lightly before it too was yanked from his grasp to be replaced by yet another. This wand was a little darker than the others, and had a beautifully shaped end with an image etched into it of a phoenix. He suddenly felt quite calm, and the wand seemed to be glowing. He raised it high above his head and brought it swishing down, and suddenly the room was lit with nonexistent fire and wind. Teddy's face lit up, and he noticed the wand was just the perfect length.

"Very good," Mr. Ollivander cheered, "Cedar wood and a rather fine Phoenix tail feather, engraved, eleven and a half inches, slightly pliable. One of my father's last wands, I believe. Let me wrap it for you."

As he wrapped, he said, "Your father was Remus Lupin, am I correct?"

Teddy nodded, slightly surprised.

"Yes, I was in the shop when he bought his first wand. Cypress and Phoenix Feather, roughly eleven inches if I am remembering correctly. Your mother on the other hand, oh my, Nymphadora Tonks, was it not? Yes, Yes, her I remember most well, knocked down half the boxes in the shop and nearly set the place on fire! Hazel and Dragon Heartstring, nearly as long as yours and very nicely colored too. Who's next, let me see… You there! It's Mathew Black, is it not? You look very like your father, different hair though, I assume that's your mother's, but the facial structure is all your father!"

"M- My father?" Mathew asked timidly.

"Most certainly! Dogwood and Ebony with a core of Dragon Heartstring, very unusual wand, very slightly pliable with a terrific dark coloring. I got the wood for that one, combining woods was a bit of an experiment back in those days, but the result was fantastic! Now, Try this one."

Mathew looked a bit startled, but accepted the wand and attempted to wave it as Ollivander intoned, "Sycamore and Dragon Heartstring, Eleven and a quarter inches, unyielding. No, no. Not at all."

"Try this one. A rather fine birch and phoenix feather mix! Nine inches, nice and supple."

"That's not it. Here, Beachwood and Maple combination, with a rather fine Unicorn Hair."

But that was not it either, nor the next wand, nor the wand after that. Mathew grew more miserable as the pile of discarded wands grew taller, until Ollivander, who was about to hand him a nine inch Hawthorne and Dogwood wand with and intricately designed handle, stopped so suddenly he nearly dropped it and, without a word of explanation, hurried back into the storage room.

"I've had a thought," he announced when he returned. "This wand was a bit of an experiment, to be perfectly honest. It has both a double wood and core, and notice the unusually sharp tip? That counterbalances the extra strength of the magic. Chestnut and Vine, firmly pressed, beautiful engravings on the handle, Entwined Unicorn hair and the smallest piece of Phoenix feather. Ten and seven eighths inches precisely, unyielding. Go on, take it."

Mathew stretched out a trembling hand to take the wand, which was twitching ever so slightly. As his fingers connected with it, there was a gentle roll of thunder in the distance, and the shop brightened with a warm light. Mathew's entire body seemed to lift off the ground as it glowed.

"Fantastic!" The wand maker exclaimed. "I did wonder if you would be the one!"

Erin found her wand much more quickly, an eleven and three quarter inch of Elm with a core of Phoenix Feather. The children thanked Mr. Ollivander and began the journey home, each holding their wands and pets close.


	16. Teddy's Mission

Teddy Lupin was on a mission. The mission had several steps, but could end with Step Two, Tell Harry and See What He Thinks. Unfortunately, he was had been stuck on Step One, Find Harry, for what felt like hours, and was no closer to completing it. It should have been easy enough, Step One. When Teddy had snuck a quill and parchment from his godfather's desk and written every little step out, he had envisioned this to be the easiest part.

He had put it off for too long, he decided. He should not have waited until they were at the Burrow for an end of summer/ goodbye Teddy party the day before he left for Hogwarts to find him.

"Watch Out!"

Teddy ducked as three brooms soared over his head. Whoever had gotten his five year old brother a broomstick was going to pay. It was only a junior broom, sure, but not rising higher than six feet off the ground left his trainers at about head height.

James, who had been the one shouting, heaved a heavy wooden red ball over everyone's heads, but five year old Fred Weasley, who had been meant to catch it, failed, and the quaffle would have hit someone's head had a swoop of blonde hair not dived beneath and grabbed it.

Laughing and swinging her pigtails over her shoulder, Lucy Weasley, also five, hurled the quaffle back at the red haired, lanky, freckly form that was George Weasley's son. He caught it this time, but fell off the broom as he swung it back to James.

Ducking around the lot of them, Teddy went back to scanning the crowd. He wasn't over talking with Uncle Ron, who looked like he was about to be roped into joining the Quidditch game by seven year old Dominique. He wasn't over with Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey either, but this did not surprise him. Other than a congratulations when Percy had earned the position of Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher a few years before, Harry tried to limit his conversations with Uncle Percy.

He wasn't by Grandma Molly either…. Or Minister Shacklebolt... or Hestia Jones, an old family friend… There!

"Harry!" he called as he worked his way around a temper tantrum being thrown by Albus Potter because his mother had, the best he could gather from the two and a half year old's wails, been denied the conquest of joining the Quidditch game.

Harry looked away from Luna, who had been dealing with her own fiasco as year old babies Lorcan and Lysander were having meltdowns, and Neville Longbottom, who had been saying, "-still hanging on to the position, so I doubt I'll get the job for another few years at least-."

"Hey, Teddy Bear!" Harry exclaimed as Teddy reached them. "I've barely seen you all afternoon. Been snogging Victiore?"

"Harry!" Teddy exclaimed in horror. "One, Victiore's a- a girl! Two, _don't call me Teddy Bear!_"

"Snogging a girl as opposed to what, Ted?" Ron sniggered as he appeared over Harry's shoulder, carrying his broomstick in a rather resigned manner and being followed closely by James.

"Don't be silly, Ron. Girls have cooties, and they're weird." Teddy said.

"Aren't you a little bit old for that?" Ginny protested as she too turned up, dragging a sulking Albus.

At the same time, Harry said, "Even Erin Black?"

Before Teddy could respond to either, James piped up, "I agree with Teddy, girls are gross. All parents, really. Do you know what Molly was telling me about how babies get made? She said Uncle George said-"

James was interrupted by a hand clapped over his mouth by a rather red Ginny, and neither of the young Potter boys was seen until a good hour later.

Teddy never did get to hear James's opinion on the making of children.

Harry, who also looked rather red, cleared his throat and said, "Did you need something, Teddy?"

_The mission!_ "Um, yeah. Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"See you in a bit, Neville, Luna?"

"I'll still be here," Luna said in an uncharacteristically glum manner as she bounced one twin up and down slightly while trying to tempt the other with a biscuit.

"You bet!" Neville added cheerfully.

Harry followed Teddy, and Teddy, as he walked back toward the house, gulped. What if Harry thought he shouldn't finish the mission? Even worse, what if he thought he should?

* * *

Teddy paced anxiously at Platform nine and three quarters. His heart both leapt and dropped as Mathew and Erin appeared, their trunks, pets, and mother in tow.

"Um…. Hi, Erin, Mathew. Oh- and hello, Mrs. Black." He added at a glance from Harry.

"Hi Teddy!" Erin exclaimed cheerfully. "Are you excited?" she asked, bouncing up and down.

"Yeah." Teddy said.

"You don't sound excited," Mathew pointed out.

"I am," he told them, "But- could I talk to you guys for a minute?" Teddy had a secret to tell them, and it wasn't that he had his stuffed wolf, Moony, buried in the bottom corner of his trunk. This was the final part of his mission.

The two shrugged and nodded. Erin placed her cat, Socks, whose soft hair she'd been stroking, back into his carrying case and Mathew passed his toad, Gulliver, to his mother, who in turn passed it to Harry, looking slightly nauseated. Both stood and followed Teddy to just behind a pillar at the back of the station.

"Um… right," he said at their quizzical looks. "Um, There's something… something I have to tell you guys."

They waited, watching him, Erin absently chewing a light brown braid.

"Right, well, you know how there's usually at least one day a month when you guys come around and I can't play? And when I'm usually pretty tired or- or sometimes even sick after?"

He paused, and they nodded thoughtfully.

"And, you remember the stories Harry tells about my dad and your dad and his dad?"

"Yeah…" Mathew trailed off, plainly wondering where this all was going.

"Well, remember how they were animagi? You know, the wizards or witches that can turn into animals?"

He barely waited for them to nod this time. The rest of his words came out in a tumbled rush.

"Well, they did that for a reason, to help my dad, because he was a werewolf and every full moon he turned into a monster and he couldn't control himself and he can't contaminate animals, because you know if you get bitten by a werewolf you become one, but it's a little bit different if you, like, give birth to a werewolf, well, not give birth, obviously, because he's a guy, but you know what I mean, and well, I'm a werewolf, but- I'm not dangerous like he was because even though you still would become a werewolf if I bit you I know what I'm doing, not like most werewolves and I've never bitten anyone ever, and well, if you don't want to be my friends any more, I understand," he said, his voice ending in a squeak.

Mathew was still staring at him with a slightly gaping mouth when Erin said, "Why wouldn't I want to be your friend?"

Mathew nodded in agreement.

"Well, because I'm a wolf! People don't like werewolves, they-"

"I like wolves," Mathew said. It was true, Mathew had several books about wolves, and a National Geographic poster of a wolf on the wall of his bedroom. The same was true of tigers, elephants, lions, tortoises, frogs, monkeys, and giraffes, and would be probably be the same for several others had he not run out of wall space.

"And I like you, Teddy, so I like wolves too. And besides," Erin added, "you don't seem like a wolf to me. You're the nicest kid I know."

"Hey!" Mathew squawked, before coughing slightly and adding, "Me too. Werewolves transform at full moon, right? So it's only once a month that you're dangerous."

"Yeah…" Teddy said. "That's what Harry said. He also said Ginny's more dangerous more often than that, so-"

"He said what?" Ginny asked indignantly, materializing behind them. "I'm going to murder him, but its five minutes to eleven, guys, and we all know what happened to Harry the time he missed the train."

"We'll be right there," Teddy promised, and Ginny sauntered back in the direction of Harry and Mrs. Black, muttering under her breath, "dangerous once a month, going to kill him," and they could her hear shriek of "Harry James Potter!" from where they stood, as well as Harry's frantic attempts to get her to keep her voice down as heads turned their way.

"Right, well," Teddy muttered.

"It was really hard for you to tell us, wasn't it?" Erin asked thoughtfully.

Teddy nodded.

"Well, we're glad you did." Mathew declared.

Erin nodded fervently in agreement.

"You do realize you can't tell anyone else, right?" Teddy asked.

"I guess so." Erin replied.

"Why?" Mathew asked.

"Because, people really wouldn't like it if they knew. My dad almost got expelled a couple times because people found out, and then he had to leave the only job he'd had in years because more people found out, and he almost got killed a million times by people who thought he was evil and dangerous!" Teddy said urgently.

They stared at him, stunned. "Wow…" Mathew said softly.

A warning whistle sounded from the train. All three turned and ran, reaching the engine and helping each other to heave their trunks aboard before doubling back to their parents.

"Bye, Mathew, love, and you, Erin, we'll see you at Christmas," Ginny said, dispensing hugs to each as Harry pulled Teddy aside.

"You told them?" he asked quietly, ducking down to his level so they would not be overheard.

"Yeah," Teddy said quickly, "They were great about it, Harry, I had to spell it out for them why exactly werewolves are dangerous, and they still didn't care. They know not to tell, too."

"Good," Harry said, a proud smile breaking out across his face. "Good for you, Teddy. Mission a success?"

"Yes," Teddy said, and he too started to grin.

Harry enveloped Teddy in a hug, only breaking free so Ginny could have her turn, then Mrs. Black.

Teddy followed the other two on to the train, waving and calling goodbye as they began to move from the platform. Teddy's grin never left his face as his chest filled with not only a bit of fear of what was to come and anxiety over leaving home, but also an indescribable, wonderful excitement. His hair glared a brilliant turquoise, still visible to Harry until the train rounded the bend, as he thought, Hogwarts, here I come!


	17. Enemies, Friends, and Unending Vengeance

"Umm…, Hi. I'm Teddy. Would you mind much if we sat here?" Teddy asked nervously, leaning from one foot to the other as he stared at the boy leering at him from the compartment door.

"Teddy who?" he asked, without answering the question.

"Lupin…. This is Erin Black, and Mathew…"

The boy snorted, and Teddy winced. The boy, identified as Gordon Price form what they had heard before they'd opened the door, had close shaved brown hair and dull, muddy eyes. He was made no less intimidating by the fact that he seemed a good two heads taller than Teddy, and was wearing a green camouflage army vest over his black shirt and pants.

"Aren't you that freak? Your dad's some sort of monster and your Mum was the idiot who went running after him? Isn't Hogwarts where they got murdered?"

Teddy's eyes widened, and he felt his eyes tear as they drifted toward his sneakers. So this was what Hogwarts would be like.

"What the hell just happened to your hair?" The boy behind him asked, gawping.

"What's it to you?" Mathew asked loudly, moving to stand in front of Teddy, whose hair had darkened a shade and was turning grey at the tips.

"He's a metamorphmagus, and his parents were heroes," Erin added, stepping up beside her brother, her braids swinging behind her head.

The boy, Gordon, and the other one, who had white-blonde hair falling in spikey clumps, burst out laughing.

"What were your parents, Death Eaters?" Teddy asked in his own defense, glaring at the boys.

A voice from behind both boys spoke up softly, saying, "Leave it Gordon, Pierce. Blood traitor brats aren't worth it, are they?"

The boys laughed again, allowing the third boy to slip out quietly and close the compartment door. He was so small that Teddy was hardly surprised he hadn't noticed him in the first place. "Sorry about that," he whispered.

He had incredibly tan, and had hair almost the same color cut neatly over his eyebrows. His eyes were brown but they seemed to glint golden, and he'd just allowed a small smile to grace his lips. "That," he mumbled, "Was Gordon Price and Pierce Freeman, and I am Corey Frost."

"Teddy Lupin," he muttered.

The boy smiled again, but again, it was so small it was barely noticeable. "I heard." There was a noise inside the compartment, and Corey jumped, turning quickly. "I'd better go," he whispered, "See you around."

And before Teddy could ask why he, who seemed nice, wanted to sit with those awful boys, he had slipped away.

The next compartment they tried was empty, and the three breathed a sigh of relief before sinking down into the dark green seats and wrestling their luggage into the racks. Teddy opened his mouth to thank Mathew and Erin, but was interrupted by the door sliding open.

A nervous looking boy, already in his Hogwarts robes, stood there, looking uncomfortable. He had short, spikey red-blonde hair, freckles, and piercing grey eyes. "Is there any way I could sit here? It's seventh years everywhere else, it seems, and I'm only in first."

"So are we," Mathew said, "Come on in."

He looked relieved. "Thanks. I'm Aiden. Aiden Petrack."

"Erin Black," Erin said, "Mathew Black, and Teddy Lupin."

"Lupin? Neat, your Dad's in our War History book, did you know?"

"Yeah…" Teddy said.

Aiden only appeared to be half listening; he was having a hard time with his trunk. Teddy stood to help him, and together they managed to shove it up into the wrack.

"What've you got in there?" Teddy panted, sliding back down in the seat.

Aiden grinned sheepishly. "Books," he said.

Mathew and Erin burst into laughter, and Teddy allowed his eyes to stray guiltily up to his trunk, which was causing the wire rack to sag.

"Your hair's turning orange," a quiet voice observed from the doorway.

The four children turned. A small boy stood there. He was so pale his skin looked white, and his short, curly hair was, if possible, even whiter. His eyes were such a dark brown they looked almost black. He too was in his Hogwarts robes.

"Metamorphmagus," Teddy explained dully. This was already getting old.

"Oh," he said, without moving.

The others stared at him. "Would you like to sit here?" Erin finally asked.

He nodded, sliding himself into the seat to Teddy's left.

"I'm Teddy," Teddy said, in an attempt to start conversation.

"Elliot Moore," he mumbled.

"Are you a first year?" Mathew asked.

Elliot nodded.

"Does anyone else have a pet?" Aiden asked. "I've got Fournier, he was my father's." He indicated a light-grey owl above his head, and Fournier hooted softly, ruffling his feathers, which were already quite ruffled.

"Socks," Erin said, lifting the orange and white cat from his wicker carrying basket.

"A toad called Gulliver."

"Just my owl, Merlin," Teddy said.

"Elliot?" Aiden asked.

Elliot reached for his trunk, which he'd opted to stow cautiously beneath his seat and had one hand on the entire time, and brought out an expensive looking case crafted from wire, glass, and pieces of mirrors. It was soon revealed to hold two small hamsters, one caramel colored, the other chocolate. "Pinto and Wally," he whispered, holding them out gently.

The caramel one squeaked and ran up his arm to his shoulder, and it must have tickled, because Elliot finally laughed. His mouth opened to reveal neat, shiny white teeth, although the front on the left was chipped.

Teddy found himself smiling as well. "Cute," he said.

"Do you want to hold one?" Elliot asked. Though his voice was still quiet, he seemed much more enthusiastic now.

Teddy shrugged and nodded, and Elliot held the darker one up near his mouth and whispered to it. The hamster emitted a tiny squeak, then raced along Elliot's arm and on to Teddy's jeans when Elliot held his arm toward them.

"That's Wally," Elliot said, and Teddy noticed for the first time that he whistled ever so slightly when he said the "s" sound, probably because of the chipped front tooth.

"Can you talk to them?" Aiden asked, and Elliot, looking slightly alarmed, nodded.

"Sort of," he mumbled, "They're quite smart."

"So, if you asked that one-," Mathew said, pointing to the one still nestled against the base of Elliot's neck, "to, I don't know, walk back down your arm, he'd do it?"

Elliot shrugged, the movement nearly displacing the hamster. "Pinto's kind of shy," he replied, "But I guess he might."

He slipped his hand over his mouth and whispered something to the caramel ball of fur. Teddy could have sworn for a moment that the hamster looked dubious, but next thing it had turned and scampered back down Elliot's outstretched arm.

Elliot smiled again, triumphantly this time, and fished a cookie of sorts out of his trunk, broke it in half, and gave a bit to each of the hamsters.

Suddenly, the door slid open again. A boy stood there, looking to be about sixth year. He leaned casually against the door frame and grinned at them. "Hey midgets," he said, "I'm looking for a pipsqueak- about ye high," he indicated somewhere near his armpit. "His name's Dylan Prete, have you seen him?"

The five kids shook their heads, staring at the boy. He had a mop of blonde hair that hung in his face a bit, a scatter of reddish freckles, and traces of a moustache on his upper lip. He chortled at their slightly afraid faces. "Well, if you see him, would you let him know his cousin wants to see him before the sorting? He'll know who you mean."

The boy turned to leave, but stopped and glanced back at them. "Snack cart's about four compartments down, if you want to get your money out."

The door had barely been closed sixty seconds before it sprang open again, and a head of curly blond hair slipped through the crack. "Was that Ashton Prete?" she demanded, crossing her arms and scowling.

"Uh… he was looking for Dylan Prete, so I guess it could have been…." Teddy trailed off.

"That _prat_," the girl grumbled, kicking at the floor with the tip of a pointed black shoe. "He's going to be the death of me. If you see him again, could you let him know that his sister's going to brutally murder him if he doesn't fix himself by the time we hit Hogwarts? Thanks."

She turned to leave as well, but seemed to remember something and spun back around. "Lucia Prete, by the way." She tapped the Ravenclaw prefect's badge on her chest. "You might be seeing more of me."

And with that she turned and stormed off in the same direction her older brother had gone.

Only seconds later, a third blond poked his head through the door. "They're all gone, aren't they? No one's hiding in here, right?"

"Dylan?" Erin guessed.

"Got that right," the boy grumbled.

"And Griffin," a voice behind him said, and Dylan jumped about a foot, landing hard in the empty seat next to Elliot.

"Don't do that!" he shouted, sticking his tongue out childishly at yet another blond, who shoved the door open the rest of the way with a cocky grin.

"You think he'd be used to it by now," Griffin said, smirking and extending his hand, which Teddy took hesitantly, then Erin, Mathew, Aiden, and finally, Elliot, who looked at it as though it might bite him. "Griff Prete," the boy said.

"Are you twins?" Erin asked, staring at the two boys, who did indeed look very much alike.

"Cousins," Dylan grumbled.

"And I'm older," Griffin said, "I'm in second year. Which reminds me…." He fumbled in his pocket, barely giving Dylan time to duck before the boy was slammed in the head by a small black balloon, which erupted in a cloud of powder, covering Dylan and the seat around him. "Unending Vengeance!" Griffin cackled before ducking back into the corridor, slamming the door shut behind him.

Dylan, who was still sitting covered in the powder except for a pale strip across his bright blue eyes where he had flung a t-shirt covered arm to cover them, sank back against the seat, grumbling, "They're all out to get me, every one of them…"

"Uhhh… what was that?" Mathew asked, looking befuddled. "The last time I saw anything that interesting, Teddy's brother had stolen Dominique Weasley's broomstick…"

"That," Dylan muttered glumly, "Was my family. The unending vengeance thing has been going on for months now; I'm not sure what I did."

"What house are they in?" Aiden asked.

Dylan rolled his eyes. "All over," he said with a huff. "Edmund's the oldest, he's in Slytherin, Ashton's in Gryffindor, Lucia's in Ravenclaw, so's Tommy, my brother Seamus is in Gryffindor, but my sister Alia's in Hufflepuff….. That idiot you just met's a Gryffindor," he finished with an annoyed jerk of his head at the door.

"How about you?" Teddy asked. "What house do you want?"

"I really don't know," he replied with a shrug. "I'm going to be tormented any way. You?"

"I could be anywhere, really," Teddy replied. "My Mum was a Hufflepuff, my Dad a Gryffindor, my Gran was a Slytherin, but my cousin Victiore reckons I'll be a Ravenclaw, 'cause I'm into books so much. Aiden?"

Aiden shrugged as well. "My Mum's muggleborn. My Dad's a Ravenclaw, but I'm not really like him."

"Our father was a Gryffindor," Erin said.

"My Dad's Slytherin. My Mum's Gryffindor," Elliot added.

At that moment, the compartment door slid open again, and a plump with a rosy face stuck her head in. "Anything of the trolley, dears?"

And anything said after that was lost in Teddy's scramble for chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.


	18. Welcome One and All

Teddy stood in line behind Mathew and in front of Aiden, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He'd never worried much about the sorting before. Harry and his father had been in Gryffindor. His Mum had been a Hufflepuff. His Gran had been a Slytherin. Ravenclaw didn't sound too bad either. Now, however, it felt like he'd swallowed Cornish Pixies as he watched a small rip open in the brim of the hat a tiny, wizened wizard, introduced as Professor Flitwick, had just placed on a small stool in front of the entire school. Teddy had never known he had stage fright, either.

"Let me take you back to long ago

When it was the founders' age

The foursome had a little row,

Leaving Slytherin in a rage.

And though the Parselmouth left school,

Three others did remain

Until time came to break apart

When they devised a way for you to gain

And cast some spells to make me smart!

I pick a house and tell you why

So come and place me on your head

Slytherins are green and sly;

Gryffindors are bold and red;

Ravenclaws are bright and blue

Hufflepuffs are yellow and true.

So let the children come to me

And do not be afraid.

I'll read your mind and we will see

Where your future is to be made!"

Applause erupted from the four tables down below. Teddy found himself shaking slightly. Where would he sit?

Professor Flitwick opened his mouth, and said in a high, trembling voice, "When I call your name, you will come forward and sit on this stool. There is no need to be nervous. Now,"

He glanced down his list, then up at the first years, and the sorting began.

"Aarnol, Grayce!"

A scrawny looking girl with thick spectacles stumbled forward, looking slightly shaken to have been called first. Her face relaxed as she placed the hat on her head, however, and it only took a moment before it called to the hall, "SLYTHERIN!"

The table closest to the doors of the hall erupted in cheers as Grayce walked toward them, looking fairly pleased.

"Alaniz, Jericho!" was a tall, dark haired boy sorted in to Ravenclaw.

A sudden thought struck Teddy, and he pulled a lock of his hair down near his eyes, studying it. Sandy brown. Good.

"Azercon, Tyler!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Barbel, Colby!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bennet, Amelia!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Black, Erin!"

Erin started from just in front of Mathew, and Teddy watched nervously as she stumbled up to meet the hat. Professor Flitwick gave her a brief smile, and she placed the hat over her head. It slipped down just over her eyes, and Teddy waited with baited breath as after a few moments, the rip near the brim of the hat opened and shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Grinning, Erin returned the hat and skipped down towards the table farthest from the doors. Teddy failed to see her arrive, however, because at that moment, Professor Flitwick announced, "Black, Mathew!"

It took nearly twice as long as it had for Erin, but finally, the hat called, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Looking shaken but relieved, Mathew pulled it off and went to join his sister.

"Cade, Rory!"

The girl with shoulder length blonde hair went to Slytherin looking slightly stunned, closely followed by Daly, Trent, and Denton, Antony, though not before Coleman, Arianna, was made a Ravenclaw.

Dolan, Rowley became a Hufflepuff.

Fier, Morgan, a Ravenclaw.

Fornier, Braden, a Hufflepuff.

Then one of the boys from the train, the one who had told Teddy he was a freak, jolted forward at Freeman, Pierce, and was made a Slytherin.

Right after him came Frost, Corey. Teddy watched in interest. Maybe he'd be a Ravenclaw? Or a Gryffindor would make sense, he'd been very brave standing up for him like that.

But the hat called "SLYTHERIN!" and Corey, his face impassive, walked quickly down to their table.

"Gartski, Cooper!"

Up came a short boy with copper colored hair.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Greene, Jasper!"

This boy had his cloak hood pulled over his head so it was hard to see his face.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Colton Hanning, a boy with short blonde hair, was made a Ravenclaw, followed by LaCamera, Emma, who had light brown hair and freckles and became a Gryffindor, same with the boy after her, a buoyant boy with a mess of shiny brown curls.

Teddy's eyes grew wide as Lewnard, Addison, became a Hufflepuff. They'd reached the "L's" with Emma LaCamera.

Lopez, Joshua became a Gryffindor.

"Lowery, Brianna!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Lupin, Theodore!"

Teddy jumped. Theodore?

Aiden shoved him forward, and he walked up on wobbly legs. He knew his hair was getting pale, it was inevitable.

There were slight gasps of recognition from the assembled students as, wincing, Teddy slipped the hat over his head.

It slipped down over his eyes, and Teddy heard the voice he'd been anticipating.

"Well, well, well. You don't say. Little Teddy Lupin. What to do with you."

"Oh… Hi," Teddy thought.

"Hi indeed. Now let me think. Werewolf, Hm?"

"Well, yeah," he thought back.

"Well, you're very like your mother, Mister Lupin."

"Ohhh…."

"Yes, I see it all. You're a bit witty, you like to make others laugh, and what's this? Your Granmother's favorite vase, Teddy?"

"I was five…" he protested silently, "She really shouldn't have left it where I could knock it over."

"No, no. As much as you're like your mother, the subtlety in your humor, your desire to protect others, the desire for solitude overweighing the desire for public awareness… and a fondness for chocolate? No, you'd do much better in your father's house. Where dwell the brave at heart, Teddy, remember that."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat shouted the last word to the hall, and Teddy, grinning wildly, tugged off the hat and jogged to meet his friends, covering his scarlet hair with one hand.

The sorting continued, and Teddy looked up eagerly to see who else would be in his house. His house... he had a house now! He was a Gryffindor!

As McIntire, Amy, became a Ravenclaw, Teddy let his eyes drift up to the ceiling, which was already showing a few stars around wisps of cloud. 'Are you proud, Dad, Mum?' He wondered.

"Mencaywor, Cara"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Miller, Bethany!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Moore, Elliot!"

Teddy watched as Elliot slipped forward and placed the hat on his head. It took several moments before it called, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Elliot's face lit up, and he too joined them at their table.

"Mullet, Kendra!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Negas, Lauren!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Neuhalfen, Miranda!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Nillis, Abigail!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Oheran, Alexis!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Patterson, Adrianna!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Petrack, Aiden!"

Aiden looked slightly green by that point, but he walked forward, and it only took a few moments for the hat to declare, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Teddy cheered with the rest, but stopped suddenly as "Prete, Dylan" was called.

Grimacing, Dylan stepped up to the hat, and a few seconds later, he was pronounced a "RAVENCLAW!"

The boy across from me laughed. "Should have known."

"Oh, hey, Griffin," Erin said, smiling at him.

Griffin squinted at her. "Have we met?"

"Uh… yeah," Mathew said, "On the train."

"I didn't see you on the train. I sat with Alex the entire time."

"Yeah, you saw us," Teddy said. "You threw the powder stuff at Dylan then ran off…"

"No I di-Oh. Stanton." The boy said, finishing through gritted teeth. "STANTON!"

He called the last word down the table, and a second Griffin perked up. This one still had black powder on his nose.

"What's up?" he asked nonchalantly.

"If you're going to go around pretending to be me, at least let me know, alright?"

The Griffin down the table shot the one in front of them a thumbs up, then went back to staring at the sorting.

"Uh… what was that?" Teddy asked, taking stock of the Slytherin and Gryffindor sorted since Dylan.

"That was my twin brother, Stanton, who thinks it's terribly fun to play twin games like switching names on me. It's odd, though, Dylan can usually tell us apart." Griffin finished, glaring at his brother again.

"Dylan was a bit overwhelmed," Mathew explained.

Griffin snorted. "I bet."

"Seaman, Collin", and "Sheldon, Thomas," were made Ravenclaws, then Sulack, Natalie a Gryffindor and "White, Kevin" a Hufflepuff.

With a final cheer for "Wood, Katherine," Professor McGonagall, the headmistress, stood at the staff table, calling for order with a wave of her wand that sent a streak of light zooming around the hall.

"Attention!" she shouted, then settled slightly as heads turned to her. "We do have a number of announcements to make concerning this term, but those can wait until you've eaten. Do begin!"

Teddy laughed in amazement as the food appeared on plates in front of him, then began heaping everything in sight on to his plate. Mathew was doing very much the same.

Fried and broiled and grilled chicken, pork, steaks and hams. Potatoes mashed, roasted, boiled and fried. Soups and black puddings and dishes of pasta with about ten different sauces. Bowls of gravy, rolls slathered with butter, plates of fruit and vegetables piled high and…. Peppermint humbugs? Teddy shrugged. Picturing the look on Ginny's face as she demanded he eat vegetables, he added a few spoonful's of green beans and some watermelon, then began to eat.

When Professor McGonagall next stood up, Teddy was still spooning up the last drops of chocolate pudding, and Erin still nibbling at her treacle tart. Mathew grabbed a spare custard cream before they all disappeared.

She coughed slightly to gain attention. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. We do have some new staffing arrangements this year, so if you could all listen up, that would be fabulous. It's my unfortunate duty to inform you of the death of the wife of your previous transfiguration teacher, Professor Whitte, who has retired home to care for his twin sons, Eli and Brandon. This brings me to Professor Cade Beekman," a dark haired wizard with square spectacles stood, inclining his head slightly, "Who will also be filling in as head of Slytherin."

She paused a moment to allow the cheers from the Slytherin table to subside before continuing, "New as well this year is Professor Aquarius Sylaster-Black, who will be teaching Astronomy after the retirement of Professor Sinestra."

Teddy jerked his head at Mathew and Erin. "Black?" he mouthed.

They both shrugged.

Teddy turned to glance at the man standing. His dark hair had grey stripes and a slight crinkle to it, and hung to about shoulder length. From his distance, Teddy could make out grey blue eyes that also seemed to have a bit of a greenish tinge to them.

"Apart from that, I would like to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is, in fact, forbidden, we were not just having fun when we named it, and you would do well to remember that. In addition, for the foreseeable future, the grounds are off limits after sundown for anyone who doesn't desire a month's worth of detentions."

Mathew poked Teddy. "You?"

"Could be," Teddy muttered uncomfortably, shifting in his seat and glancing around at the other students.

Taking the hint, Mathew looked back up at Professor McGonagall.

"Those wishing to try out for their house Quidditch teams should contact their head of house by the end of the fortnight. On behalf of Mr. Auger, our caretaker, I would like to remind you of the most recent additions to the list of banned items, including exploding owl pellets and iridescent irremovable ink bullets. If anyone would like to consult the full list, it can be viewed in the caretaker's office.

"On a different note, it's been a long day for all of you, and you'd do well to get to bed. Dismissed."

Teddy smiled and got up from the table with the others. He couldn't wait to see the common room.

Teddy found himself shunted and pushed as he made his way up through a complicated mess of stairways and corridors with eleven other students, following the sixth year Gryffindor prefects, Trey Martin and Elizabeth Coleman, through the halls.

Trey had a smooth shock of dark blonde hair and a long nose. He was also probably about six feet tall, and strode through the crowds at such a pace that they practically had to run to keep up with him.

Elizabeth was tall as well, with sandy brown hair brought back in a swinging ponytail. She and Trey were at constant ends, and seemed to be swinging elbows at him when he wasn't flinging sharp words at her.

The two bickered through passages lined with more pictures and portraits than Teddy had ever seen, and Mathew and Erin, stumbling along beside him, kept stopping and staring in awe at particularly stunning ones.

When Trey and Elizabeth finally reached the portrait of a sizable woman in a pink silk dress and gave the password, "Serendipity," almost simultaneously, Teddy was justifiably amazed.

The portrait hole swung open to reveal a round room with a huge fireplace and grand windows overlooking the grounds. Scarlet tapestries hung on the walls, and there were several comfortable looking couches and arm chairs placed around the room, most in front of the fire, as well as different sized tables.

Trey and Elizabeth barely glanced around. Elizabeth spoke up over the babble of voices of older students pouring in. "Girls follow me, boys after that git," Before starting for the stairs at one side of a stone divider and Trey for the other.

The dormitory seemed almost more spectacular, and though it wasn't his bedroom at Harry's house, something about it seemed to call home.

There were six four poster beds positioned in a line across the large, round room, each hung with heavy scarlet curtains. At the end of each bed was an empty trunk (their trunks were in a pile beside the door) and across from every other bed against the opposite curved wall was a writing desk. There were three windows with an even better view than that from the common room, and each had a padded scarlet window seat. A door off to one side held a bathroom which, after a brief inspection, proved to be mostly white tile or marble, with diamond tips to the fixtures and an enclosed bathtub/shower which seemed more like a wading pool and had six different faucets and several different handles, each of which seemed to control something different. A wide mirror covered one entire wall, though the toilet and sink seemed secluded enough.

Back in the main room, Teddy chose the end bed, farthest from the door and therefore right beside the largest window. The theory behind this was that his absence might go unnoticed this far from the others. Mathew immediately opted for the bed beside his. Another boy had the one next to that. He grinned across the gap at Teddy and Mathew. "I'm Joshua Lopez," he announced.

Joshua was tall and lanky, with mousy brown hair that, though short in back, dangled so low in front that it nearly covered his eyes. Teddy and Mathew smiled back. The boy in the bed next to Joshua was short and a bit round, and had a mop of curly chestnut colored hair and matching eyes, as well as rosy cheeks and dimples. "I'm Russell Lawrence," he said.

Aiden took the bed beside him, then Elliot.

"So, I'm muggleborn," Joshua said eagerly, "Was I imagining it when that fat lady picture _spoke _to the prefect?"

Teddy shook his head, grinning. "She's been here forever, all the pictures move and talk and things."

"I'm muggleborn as well," Russell added. "I don't really get the whole idea with a wizard school, anyway. What do we _do_?

"Well, my dad says the classes-" Aiden began.

"Classes?" Joshua asked.

"Well, yeah. Wizarding _School_," Aiden reminded him.

"Oh, yeah. So I guess we learn how to mix bubbling green poisons in our cauldrons and turn things into toads and fly away on our broomsticks?" Joshua asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Teddy shrugged. "I don't think we get to turn anything into animals until second year transfiguration at least," he said thoughtfully, "But yeah, pretty much."

Joshua balked.

_**Hello, Everyone!**_

_**I know I've promised another Teddy story- here's what I'm thinking.**_

_**How would you all feel if I were to take this story to first year, then pick up with his second year as a seperate story, one for each school year?**_

_**Same friends, same situation, same... other things soon to be introduced. It's just this story is getting a little bit too long as it is, **_

_**and Teddy through all of Hogwarts would get us to a couple hundred chapters.**_

_**My great planning could have some holes in it, though, so let me know what you think!**_

_**Questions?**_

_**Ideas?**_

_**Comments?**_

_**Review!**_

_**I'm here to give you a good story, and I can't do so without your help! **_

_**Wizard of Night**_


	19. Ghosts and Bullies

The next morning found Teddy, Mathew, Erin, and Aiden under a dull grey sheet of clouds, bent over a copy of their class schedule at breakfast. Teddy was quite proud of himself. It had only taken them half an hour to retrace their steps from the previous night and make it down to the Great Hall. (The others had still been asleep.) Some of the Hufflepuffs still hadn't shown up.

"Today's Monday, so right after breakfast we've got Transfiguration…. I think this little S here means we're with the Slytherins." Mathew said.

"And then Potions with the Slytherins, but then Charms with the Ravenclaws," Teddy added.

"But then comes War History," Aiden said, "With the Hufflepuffs. What d'you reckon the difference is between History of Magic and War History?"

"I guess we're going to find out," Teddy replied.

* * *

Teddy knew straight off that he was not much going to like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, or Professor Cade Beekman, and he had a very good reason for it.

"Class," he said icily the moment they were seated. "This year we will be going over the basic skills of transfiguration, as well as the theory behind it. Humans can transfigure, be transfigured, and transfigure themselves, and we will be going over it all. Now, quills and parchment out. Does anyone know of a circumstance in which a human would be transformed? Mr…..?"

"Petrack. There are animagi," Aiden said, "Wizards or witches that can turn themselves into animals."

"Good, five points to Gryffindor. Anyone else?"

Aiden was beaming.

"Mr. Daily?"

Trent Daily was a Slytherin with a fairly short mousy buzz cut and eager brown eyes. "Botanimagi, wizards that can turn themselves into plants. My uncle's one, he-"

Professor Beekman cut across him. "Thank you. Five points to Slytherin. Now, what about those who can't control their transformations? Mr. Denteren?"

Antony, a dark haired Slytherin, said, "It's Denton, actually Professor, and Vampires sometimes have uncontrolled reflex movements, usually caused by blood, which make their eye teeth lengthen considerably and their eyes flash red."

"Nearly a text book answer, well done. Five points to Slytherin. Miss… I'm sorry."

A Gryffindor girl smiled back up at him. She had long auburn hair ponytailed behind her head. "Amber Kelheller, and would werewolves be one?"

Teddy had been expecting it, but it still made his blood run cold. From either side of him, he felt Mathew and Erin tense, but their faces remained blank, though mildly interested, just like everyone else.

"Correct, they would be. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, can anyone tell me how one would go about recognizing a werewolf? You there?"

To Teddy's horror, he was pointing at Mathew. "I'm muggle- born, sir," Mathew explained. "I don't know much about anything to do with wizards."

Teddy felt relieved, until he felt Professor Beekman's dark eyes turn to him. "And how about you, Mr. Lupin? What do you know about werewolves?"

Teddy stared at him wide- eyed, and simply shook his head.

* * *

He had barely recovered by the time he, Mathew and Erin were making their way to the dungeons some twenty minutes later.

"That was completely nasty of him, you should really- Do you reckon it's this way?" Erin asked.

"Go to Professor McGonagall," Mathew finished for her. "No, I bet we're supposed to go over there, those steps look steeper."

"Ha! Hahahahaha! It's a Lupin!"

The three stared quickly around before looking up. A squat man with wicked black eyes was staring down at them, cackling.

"Peeves?" Teddy guessed. "Harry says I'm not to take directions from you, and that I should probably cover my head when you're around on the off chance you have water balloons or ink pellets."

Peeves cackled again. "Lupin, Lupin, Loony Loopy Lupin! Awhooooo!" he sang, before turning a summersault in mid-air and whirling away, still chanting.

"There's no way I'm bothering the headmistress on my first day back," Teddy replied, "And I'm pretty sure we're in the wrong wing of the building. Should we try going across that landing, up those stairs, and through that doorway," he indicated the rough position of each place as he said it, "And then through there?"

"No, you'll end up on the Quidditch pitch if you do that," A new voice behind them said. Teddy spun around to find one of the Prete twins, sandy hair ruffled and grinning a lopsided smile.

"Stanton?" Teddy asked.

"Griffin," he replied, shaking his head, "But follow me, it's sort of on the way to Charms if you take a short cut, and that's where I'm headed."

"Thanks," they said gratefully.

Erin gave Teddy a look that said their conversation from before wasn't entirely over.

Teddy looked pointedly the other way and said to Griffin as they set off at a brisk walk, "So, who teaches Potions?"

Griffin snorted. "A little old witch called Gloria Manchester. She'd be alright as someone's Granny, but she's not such a great professor. In some ways that's good, though, you can get away with just about anything in her room. Where do you go next?"

Mathew pulled his schedule out of the pocket of his robe. "We have a break. Then Charms, then War History."

Griffin grinned. "Flitwick's great. About a hundred and ninety but still going strong. And bless the man, he doesn't make us take too many notes. Dennis Creevey teaches War History, he's pretty good."

"My Uncle Percy's the Defense teacher," Teddy said proudly.

"Your…. Uncle? But you're Teddy Lupin."

"Yeah, we call him uncle, anyways. What's he like in the classroom?" Teddy asked.

Griffin shrugged. "Dead boring, to tell you the truth, but if you get him on a good day then he's alright. My cousin Dominic says he and Creevey team up for a lesson with the seventh years and take them into the pensive to watch bits of the Battle of Hogwarts. He told me about it, said it was dead awesome. He said this one guy got hit with a curse that- Teddy?"

Teddy had stopped moving. "We have to watch the battle?" he asked quietly.

Griffin stared at him for a moment like he was a screw case, but then said softly, "_Oh_. Teddy Lupin."

Teddy nodded, still frozen to the spot.

"Well, you have to get a permission slip signed," Griffin said hastily, "And they're never going to force someone to watch it, and they'll be sensitive to it, I mean, they both lost brothers, I mean- you probably knew that already, didn't you? I'm sorry. Here, it's only another corridor."

But Teddy hardly noticed when Mathew and Erin began to tug him along towards the group of first years assembled outside the potions room. Gordon Price's words on the train yesterday were echoing around in his head. "Isn't Hogwarts where they got murdered?" He didn't understand why a student would be so mean. He didn't know why Professor Beekman seemed to hate him. He didn't understand the gleam in Peeves's eyes that seemed to be directed just at him. He suddenly felt like he was in a castle of ghosts and bullies, and he hated it. He wanted to go home. Now.


	20. Like Your Father

"Right," Mathew said, frowning at the pale gray feather between himself and Teddy. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Nothing happened. "Your turn," he informed Teddy.

Teddy gripped his wand tightly and, bringing it in a distinctly swishy manner towards the feather, announced, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The feather rocketed off the edge of the desk. After bending to retrieve it, Teddy glanced around the room.

Erin was seated beside the red haired girl called Amber Kelheller. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she declared, and with a proper flick of her wand, her feather floated lazily up into the air.

"Excellent, miss…" Professor Flitwick shouted, bobbing over towards her.

"Black, sir." Erin replied.

"Indeed. Five points to Gryffindor!"

Teddy studied the feather. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The feather shot off the desk again.

Aiden, who was seated in the row in front of him, turned and handed it back. "I think you're flicking your wand in the wrong direction," he informed him. "Try more like… Wingardium Leviosa!"

He performed the proper motion with his wand, and his brown speckled feather floated up over their heads. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Mathew and Teddy tried simultaneously, and both feathers floated up to join his.

Beside Aiden, Elliot looked uncertainly at his own feather. "Win- Wingardium Leviosa!"

Nothing happened. Without turning from his own feather, Aiden suggested, "Try using bigger motions, and be louder. You can do it, Elliot!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he commanded, and his own black feather rose to join the rest.

And at the look of pure euphoria on his face was enough to lift Teddy's mood- for the time being, at least.

* * *

"Good Morning, Class. I am Professor Manchester. Now, I understand you all know my name now, but I've yet to learn yours, so just to make things a little bit easier for your old professor, I've designed a seating chart. Whether or not we stick to it will depend greatly on your behavior."

The short, round, grey haired witch in the front of the room looked at them sternly before continuing. "Now, when I call your name, please bring your supplies to your seat."

She adjusted her small silver spectacles before announcing. "Table one: Grayce Aarnol? Rory Cade? Kendra Mullet?"

The three Slytherin girls took the first three seats at the round table, setting their cauldrons down over their burners. "Trent Daly? Antony Denton? Pierce Freeman?"

Once they were seated, she smiled and said, "Very good! Table Two: Mathew Black? Corey Frost? Theodore Lupin?"

Teddy, Mathew, and the nice boy from the train lugged their cauldrons over and sat down. "Miranda Nuehalfen? Katherine Wood? Eileen Slatter?"

She smiled serenely at them before moving on to the next table. "Gordon Price? Russell Lawrence?"

The world around Teddy suddenly began to spin. He moaned, clutching the table before him tightly. Control it, he reminded himself. Of all the days for the full moon to rise, it had to be his first day of classes.

"Are you alright, Teddy?" A girl Teddy was quite certain was called Katherine Wood asked him from the seat across from him.

"I'm fine," he replied hastily. "Do you think we'll start making potions right away?"

The answer, as it turned out, was no. Teddy got a great deal of use out of his quill, which was used to take a rather detailed variety of notes, but not his cauldron, nor scales nor ingredients.

Mathew noticed his friend getting paler and quieter throughout the entire class, and as it ended, he approached Professor Manchester. The two spoke for a moment, then left together.

Mathew looked at the crumpled slip of parchment clutched in his hand. On it, Teddy had written;

Mathew-

Moon is **O** tonight. I need to go rest after this lesson. Can you tell me what happens?

Teddy

Mathew had nodded, then nodded again when Teddy, whose brown hair even looked significantly mousier than it had at the beginning of classes, had mouthed, "Rip the note up."

He looked again at the slip of paper, then shredded it into pieces. He then turned and disappeared into the flow of students, hoping he would make it to the great hall, to go outside for break.

"That way, do you reckon?" Aiden asked, sidling up behind him with Erin, whom he sat with.

"How do you figure?" Mathew asked.

"There are three staircases stemming from this corridor. That one seems to only go up, and the great hall is on the ground floor. The window beside that one," he gestured with his arm, "shows a bit of the far edge of the lake we passed last night, so it goes off in completely the wrong direction. Therefore, we should take that set of stairs, as well as any other descending staircases, aim East the best we can, and hope we're lucky."

Both twins stared at him. "That actually makes a lot of sense," Erin said.

Aiden grinned, showing amazingly white if slightly crooked teeth. "Thanks."

* * *

Teddy lay still fully dressed on his back on the strange, stiff bed in Gryffindor tower, shivering slightly. He looked up at a slight rap on the door, and it swung open to reveal Professor McGonagall and an elderly witch he didn't know.

"Mr. Lupin," the headmistress began, "This is Madam Pomfrey."

The grey haired witch was holding a steaming goblet, brimming with a pasty grey liquid.

"Mr. Lupin- Oh, my, you look just like your mother. Now my I assume you know what to do with this?"

He stared weakly at her. "Not actually… no."

She stared incredulously back. "You've never taken Wolfsbane potion?"

Teddy shook his head. "I don't need to."

She looked slightly taken aback, but recovered quickly. "Well," she told him briskly, "Part of the terms set by the government for allowing students with your condition to attend Hogwarts is the condition that you take the full dose of Wolfsbane potion before every full moon, and I don't see how it can hurt.

Reluctantly, Teddy took the goblet from her hands and downed it in one gulp. Immediately he bent double over the edge of the bed, retching and gasping, his face twisted in disgust. "That's-," he gagged weakly.

Professor McGonagall patted his back rather gingerly. Her voice was far from unkind as she informed him, "Your father positively loathed it as well… I know as a child he followed it up with a heavy dose of Honeyduke's finest." She pulled a foil wrapped chocolate bar from the pocket of her robe. "I don't suppose this would have any appeal to you?"

Teddy smiled gratefully, taking it carefully from her and unwrapping it. "Thanks."

He discovered it was his favorite, milk chocolate with caramel and marshmallow. He bit it enthusiastically, and almost immediately felt twice as tired as he had previously.

"Why don't you rest now, and then come downstairs for dinner, then either Madam Pomfrey or myself will take you down to the Willow."

"Yes, Professor," Teddy replied meekly, disliking the attention. "Thank you very much, and you, Madam Pomfrey."

Both women beamed. "You're very welcome, Mister Lupin," Madam Pomfrey said fondly, gesturing with her wand to dim the room's lights.

"I'll see you in a few hours, Mr. Lupin. Try to rest, so we can get you back on your feet as soon as possible."

"Thank you," he said again, ducking his head.

They smiled briefly, then turned and slipped back through the door.

"So much like his father," he heard Madam Pomfrey whisper as the two set off down the staircase.

"Shhh," Professor McGonagall murmured back, but a moment later she added, "I think so too. But you should see the Christmas card the Potters sent us last year, I can tell from the pictures he'll be a bit of a cheeky blighter by the time he's settled as well."

"_Exactly_ like his father, then," Madam Pomfrey asserted.

"Indeed," the professor whispered back. "They're the hardest to discipline as well, you know? A polite, modest prankster who cares about being caught…. Giving them detention is like hexing baby unicorns…."

But Madam Pomfrey's reply was lost as they reached the common room.

Teddy made to settle back into bed, but a sudden thought stopped him. He crawled to the end of the bed, lifted the curtain over his head and fumbled for his trunk.

When his head finally hit the pillow a few moments later, the framed image of his parents he'd brought from home was propped on his bedside table.

He undid his cloak and let it fall to the floor before pulling the blankets tight to his chin and drifting off into a sound sleep.

And the worn, greying man behind the frame, dressed in a patched brown overcoat, put an arm around the brightly dressed, younger woman beside him. Tonks's image rested her head against her husband's shoulder and the pair gazed out on the tousled sandy brown head of their son. Their son, who was just like them.


	21. A Discovery In the Dungeons

"Hey, Lupin!"

"Hello, Gordon, Pierce," Teddy replied nervously, staring up at the broad Slytherin boy and his thin blonde sidekick from where he, Aiden, Mathew, and Erin had been cornered against one wall of the dungeon the following morning, less than an hour after Teddy had been released after a carefull checking-over from Madam Pomfrey. "So tell, me, Lupin, is it true?"

"Is what true?" he queried, confused.

"Is it true your dad was a monster?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," Teddy said.

"He was a monster, that's what my mum told me. A dirty monster that attacked kids!"

"I highly doubt that's true," Aiden said, "Seeing as he fought in the battle of Hogwarts to _save _kids."

"Yeah!" Teddy exclaimed angrily. "What about your father? What did he do?"

"My father," Gordon replied stiffly, "Works in _government_. And my mother runs the employment office at the ministry, unlike your father, who was _unemployed_!"

"Well, my father was a great man," Teddy said.

"You're a freak!" Pierce challenged, his eyes narrowed.

"I'm a metamorphmagus," Teddy corrected, "A point I believe I've raised four times today. Please, leave us alone. We're going to be late for lunch-,"

"You're a color changing freak," Pierce spat, "And your mother was a color changing freak, and your father was a monster!"

"You're a freak, Lupin!" Gordon said, stepping forward.

Teddy slid a few inches sideways on the wall.

Why were there suddenly so many more of them? And were they all Slytherins? Some of them were so much bigger than he…

"Freak!" a boy of around fifteen jeered.

"Freak!" sneered a girl a few years younger, her dark ponytail sticking out the side of her head.

"Freak! Freak! Freak! Freak!"

More and more of them picked up the chanting, and soon it was echoing off the walls.

"Come on!" Mathew hissed in his ear.

"Move!" Erin whispered.

He shouldn't have had to run, he reflected, but he did so anyways, feet pounding the stone corridors as he and his friends ran pell-mell through them. He didn't really have a choice.

Behind him, jinxes began to ricochet off the walls.

"Teddy!" Aiden whispered, gasping for breath, "We're going the wrong way!"

"Who cares?" Erin hissed back, "Keep moving!"

"Seriously, this is just going to take us deeper into the dungeons!" Aiden replied.

"It doesn't matter, I can still hear them!" Mathew said, "We're going to get hit!"

"Point taken," Teddy muttered. "Turn here!"

He grabbed Mathew's arm, and the four scrambled through another corridor and around several bends. He'd lost track completely by the time Aiden slowed, gasping, "How many of them are actually chasing us?"

"Keep going!" Teddy said. "There are seven different footfalls, so some of them have to be big kids who know real curses!"

"How can you tell there are seven?" Aiden said, surprised.

"I just can!" Teddy said, louder than he should have, and Aiden looked surprised.

"Good hearing," Teddy mumbled.

"Here!" Mathew said quickly, pulling open a door at the edge of the corridor to reveal a narrow set of stairs.

"Down?" Aiden said. "I didn't know you could go any further down from the dungeons."

"Well, maybe they don't know either," Mathew replied, running a hand through his mousy brown fringe and proclaiming, "Let's go!"

"HEY! DOWN THERE!"

"Merlin!" Teddy breathed.

"Go!" Erin hissed.

They shut the door behind them as quietly as they could and took off, running as fast as their legs could carry them. Oddly, the passage didn't branch, and after a few moments they hit a solid wall.

"No!" Mathew complained, kicking it.

"What are we going to do now?" Teddy said desperately, running a hand along the wall. "We're completely doomed-,"

"Stop!" Erin said suddenly.

Teddy froze.

"Teddy, what seems different about this corridor?" She asked.

Teddy frowned, studying his surroundings.

"Oh!" Aiden exclaimed a moment later.

"I get it," Teddy added. "The floor is solid concrete, not stone tiles like the rest of the dungeons."

"But how will that help us at all?" Mathew asked.

"The block of stone where your hand is, Teddy, it's raised higher than the others."

"So…" Teddy jammed the palm of his hand into it, harder than he'd meant to, then frowned, rubbing at the scrape the rough stone left. "Ouch."

Suddenly, deep beneath their feet, there came a low rumble.

"What did we just do?" Aiden asked, panicked.

"I think we're about to find out," Teddy said uneasily.

The floor beneath their feet began to tilt towards the wall, and Teddy felt his feet begin to slide.

"We're going to crash!" he exclaimed.

No one contradicted him. Teddy stared, wide eyed with horror, as he fell toward the wall, unable to stop. He flung his arms out to catch himself, and his right hand slammed into the block of stone he'd already pressed. His gasp of pain was swallowed in amazement as the stone sank into the ground, bringing with it the blocks beneath.

"Duck, Teddy!" Erin shouted behind him.

Teddy let himself drop to the ground just in time as he slid through the gap in the wall down the concrete chute, deeper and deeper into the school, the others whizzing behind him, mouths gaping in astonishment.

* * *

Moments later, the chute leveled out, and Teddy rolled roughly onto the ground. His wrist jarred and he immediately clenched it to his chest and curled into a ball, his face screwed up in pain.

He heard a shriek from behind him as Erin's heels jammed into the floor and she went flying, landing hard on top of him, followed by Aiden crashing to the ground on their right, Mathew on their left.

"What in Merlin's name-?" Aiden said in awe, clamoring to his feet and staring around.

They appeared to be in a stone rabbit warren, a smooth concrete cave around the size of the average classroom, with stone tunnels and passages leading off in all directions. There were entrances to passageways everywhere, at least two dozen of them, at all levels of the walls or as manholes on the floor; some were even visible on the low ceiling.

"Teddy!" Erin said suddenly. "What's the matter?"

"My wrist," he replied through gritted teeth from his position on the floor, "I think I broke it when I hit the wall."

"Oh," Mathew said, biting his lip.

"Let me see, Teddy," Erin instructed gently, dropping back to her knees beside him.

Cautiously, he bent it towards her, grimacing.

She winced as she pulled his sleeve up off it.

"Looks pretty broken to me," Mathew asserted. "You'll need the hospital wing, Teddy."

"That'll be a trick," Teddy observed glumly, indicating back at the way they'd come with his good hand.

The other three followed it, then stared in horror. The stone slab was now completely vertical, forming a solid stone wall where there had before been an exit. They were trapped.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hey there!**

**I'd never really tried a cliff hanger on this story before, that was interesting...**

**What I have for you now is a two part deal. I've officially decided to close this story at the end of Teddy's first year. Where do you fit into this? **

**Well, If this story has 100 reviews by the end of the story- not to tall an order, you'll have plenty of time- you'll get a special present. **

**Because I'm far from done with Teddy. Regardless of reviews, there's going to be a sequel (a ridiculously long sequel, the way it looks at the moment)- published soon after the conclusion to this story if I get enough motivation to write it. The more reviews, the faster I can write. If I get 100 reviews by the end of the story, not only will I be spectacularly impressed, but I'll give you the Prologue to Teddy's second year.**

**Just to get you interested- 10 reviews to this chapter, and I'll give you the title of the next book.**

**Please- I don't like bargaining for reviews, but I need feedback to make sure this story is something you will enjoy. If you think something's dull, If you think a part needs more detail, if you don't understand something, tell me so I can fix it! **

**And if anyone was wondering- I haven't forgotten about Lily. Just wait. ****_: )_**

**Wizard of Night**


	22. Hidden Beneath Gargoyles

It took a moment, but Teddy finally said, "We'll get out somehow, won't we? Look at all these passages, one of them must lead back to the school, or else there ought to be a way to open that door from the inside."

"There ought to have been an easier way to get in, too," Mathew said.

"We can't just go wandering around passages with Teddy's arm like that!" Aiden exclaimed.

"Teddy, what was that spell Harry used after James fell off your broom and twisted his ankle? The one that made those bandages?" Mathew asked.

"After he stopped yelling at James and I for practicing in the rain? It was ferula."

"Ferula? That's a pretty easy one, I think…" Aiden said. "Wand movement?"

"A sort of spin-flick and a tap," Erin replied.

"Like this," Mathew said, demonstrating with his hand.

"And then, I'd imagine you'd have to think…" Aiden trailed off, looking extremely thoughtful. "Let me see your arm, Teddy."

Teddy consented, and Aiden tapped his wrist gently, murmuring, "_Ferula_!"

Nothing happened.

"Or not," Aiden mumbled. "Unless… _Ferula!_"

A ream of bandages erupted from the tip of his wand, wrapping themselves tightly around Teddy's forearm.

"That's a fourth year spell!" Mathew exclaimed.

"My father taught me basic conjuring, he said it was all in the presence of mind," Aiden explained modestly, ducking his head.

"Brilliant!" Teddy said, flexing his arm carefully. "Ouch."

"A sling, I think," Erin said. "I don't know a spell for that, though… Oh, here."

She pulled a length of gold ribbon out of her pocket. "I found this on the grounds the other day…"

"It looks awfully short," Mathew observed.

"_Engorgio_!" Erin said, and the ribbon tripled in length and width. "I learned _that_ out of our text-books."

"That should do it," Aiden said, looking impressed.

Grinning self-consciously, she looped a few times around Teddy's arm and tied it at the back of his neck.

"Brilliant," he said again.

"Now… how do we get out of here?" Mathew asked.

"I would guess we go up, seeing as we had to go down to get here…" Aiden trailed off.

"So, there are three tunnels on the ceiling," Mathew began, "And I bet if we had something to stand on, we could reach that one there, where the ceiling slopes toward us, and then do you see the edge of the ladder, sticking out of it?"

"I think we could do that, but could Teddy?"

"I can do it!" Teddy replied determinedly before anyone could speak for him.

Erin looked dubious, but Mathew, gazing up at the ceiling, declared, "Let's go!"

The only drawback was that there was absolutely nothing to stand on. Refusing to be deterred, Aiden crouched on the ground, instructing Mathew to climb on his shoulders.

Hesitantly, Mathew placed a foot on his friend's back. "You're sure about this?" he asked.

"Do you see a better option?" Aiden replied. "You go first, then help Teddy up, then Erin can go, and Erin- Do you reckon you can lift my weight?"

"Sure," she said, if a bit doubtfully, but that was all the reassurance Mathew needed.

Shaking his hair out of his eyes, he fixed his foot on Aiden's shoulder, then lunged upwards as high as he could, but he just fell short and crashed to the ground.

His sister rushed over. "Mathew, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he muttered, clambering up and brushing dirt and dust from his robes.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Erin said hesitantly.

"I can do it!" Mathew said back. "Here, watch-"

And he went at a run this time, nearly knocking Aiden head over heels with the force of his push between the boy's shoulder blades. He flung himself into the air, arms outstretched, and fingers scrabbling, just managed to lock his right hand onto the rusted metal bar hanging below the hole, which clanged alarmingly.

"Pull yourself up, and get a grip on a higher bar," Aiden coached.

"We're left-handed," Erin moaned. "He won't make it-,"

Mathew was clearly struggling, his legs pedaling the dusty air as his fingers slipped. With a final burst of determination, he swung his entire frame upward, latching firmly onto the bar with both hands and then heaving himself up to the second and third, until his legs rested on the bottom bar. "Yes!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"Brilliant!" Teddy cheered.

"Do you play Quidditch?" Aiden asked, looking impressed.

"A bit," Mathew replied, grinning sheepishly as he ducked his head down through the hole. "Here, Teddy," he said, wiping sweat off his fingers on his robes and offering him his hand.

"Alright," Teddy replied nervously.

"Hold on," Aiden said, shifting. "If I go like that, and then you stepped in my hands and I hoisted you up, you could probably go further."

"_Now _you come up with that," Mathew mumbled.

"Alright…" Teddy secured his trainer in Aiden's clenched hands and allowed himself to be thrust upwards, lunging for the bar with his good hand, but missing by centimeters, his fingers scrabbling in mid-air. Who knew what damage a fall like that could do to his arm- If he landed wrong-

He squeezed his eyes shut and braced for impact, but from just above him, a hand shot out, grabbing him by the collar.

Teddy felt the edge of his shirt jerk into his neck as Mathew yanked him upward, cutting off air circulation. Black spots popped before his vision, but he grabbed a bar at random and clung tight as Mathew's grip slipped and Teddy fell, nearly jerking his arm out of his socket but still firmly attached to the third rung of the ladder.

He adjusted his grip and swung his legs up, grimacing. "Thanks, Mathew," he said.

"Nice catch!" Erin cheered.

Teddy worked his way up through the claustrophobic tunnel, giving Mathew plenty of room to yank his sister into their ranks.

"Hold my other arm, Mathew," she instructed as she lowered herself halfway out of the tunnel and offering her extended hand to Aiden.

Aiden took it at a run, throwing himself at Erin's hand. At the perfect moment, she took advantage of his momentum and pulled up as hard as she could, and Aiden just managed to seize the bottom rung.

"Alright, Teddy," Erin instructed cheerfully. "Climb!"

It was tedious work; it took Teddy time to shift his weight well enough to be able to get a grip on the next rung without crashing back down on top of them all. It was pitch-black in the tunnel. Some bars were loose, a few missing all together, and they felt cold, shaky, and rusty in his hand. After what felt like hours, however, he'd just leaned into the ladder far enough so he could shoot up his hand, but when he did his knuckles crashed straight into a hard metal door.

"What now?" he called down to the others. "We've hit a door!"

"Open it!" Was the unanimous response.

Frowning at the seemingly round manhole above him, Teddy ran his fingers along the sides until he found a latch. He scrambled for a moment before he could unlock it, but it finally slid, and he thrust the door upward.

The moment he did, a rush of icy water hit him squarely in the face.

He heard Mathew and Aiden cry out, and Erin shrieked as he knew the water cascaded down on them too. Prepared for more, Teddy glanced upward, but only a bit ran over the sides of the hole above him, dripping into his turquoise hair and onto his face. Hoisting himself out of the dark and damp on one elbow, Teddy found himself in- well, more dark and damp. Only this was less dark and more damp. Unlike the chamber at the other end of the tunnel, this area seemed to have molded walls of marble, though they were coated lightly in green scum, and steady streams of water trickled down the walls. The ceiling was molded up into hollow, unrecognizable shapes extending out of the room and somewhere nearby, Teddy could hear bells chiming. The clock tower!

"We're in the fountain," he identified as Aiden's red-blonde head, freckled face, and torso joined them, the last to leave the tunnel.

"The fountain in the clock tower courtyard?" Erin asked. "However did we end up here?"

"It must be like one of the secret passages Harry is always talking about!" Teddy exclaimed.

"He always made those out to be terribly hard to find," Mathew said, squinting at the chinks of light showing through parts of the fountain around him.

"How do we get out?" Erin asked.

"Through there!" Teddy said, "Look!"

Just above them, one of the hollow shapes, which Teddy realized were the gargoyles stationed around the fountain, had a small stone button at one side.

Teddy pressed it, and one side of the inside of the winged beast slid away, revealing a narrow stone inlet to shield them from the rest of the courtyard. The four helped each other over it, then stood in the courtyard, staring at each other and wringing the water from their robes.

"Hey guys?" Mathew said finally.

"Huh?" Teddy said.

"I didn't want to say before, but I dropped my wand just before we fell down the slide. On the way to the hospital wing, could we see if it's still there?"

"The hospital wing?" Teddy questioned.

"Your arm, Teddy!" Erin reminded him.

"Oh, Oh yeah!"

"Nutter," she mumbled under her breath.

Teddy, Mathew, Erin, and Aiden made their way back through the corridors, attracting a few odd looks from other students, though not many. Questionable appearances were common at Hogwarts.

In the dungeons, Mathew scooped his Chestnut-Vine wand up off the edge of the corridor, which looked precisely the same as it had before they'd started running. They'd just turned back when the sound of footsteps coming towards them met their ears.

"Around the corner," Teddy murmured, "Female, I think- limping, but very slightly. Maybe they're just old…"

"I don't even want to know how you know that," Aiden whispered back.

"Can we hide?" Erin asked.

"Where do you think we could do that?" her brother hissed.

"Act natural," Aiden muttered.

"That's an oxymoron, you know-," Teddy replied.

"What are you four doing?" Professor McGonagall barked, appearing around the corner and casting them suspicious looks. Suspicious- but something else as well, Teddy rather thought. Panicked?

"We were- we- going to lunch," Teddy answered.

"Lunch ended twenty minutes ago," the Headmistress informed him.

"Oh," he replied feebly.

"We were lost," Erin offered. "We went the wrong way after potions."

That was true, Teddy reflected.

"Mr. Lupin, what is that on your arm?"

"That? That's the other thing, I sort of… slipped, I guess." That was one word for it.

"Into a wall," Mathew supplied. That was the truth as well.

"We're pretty sure it's broken," Erin added. That was definitely for certain.

"Would you like me to take you to Madam Pomfrey?" Professor McGonagall asked, not unkindly.

Teddy nodded, and he could feel his hair blushing at the tips from the attention. Coughing slightly, he morphed it solid again, but he wasn't quite certain he had it the same color it had been before. He considered trying to change it back, but the Headmistress was giving him odd looks as it was…

"Run ahead, I'll be with you in just a moment," Professor McGonagall instructed.

One might have wondered what she wanted with the so-called empty corridor. Peering around the corner, Teddy saw her inspecting the wall at the end quite closely. Almost ridiculously closely, in fact, for a dull old wall at the end of a deserted hallway.

And, with his rather sensitive hearing, Teddy was nearly certain he heard her mutter, "Marauders all over again."

Maybe the room of tunnels wasn't nearly as secret as they had thought. One thing was for sure, though. They would definitely have to come back and explore.

* * *

**Alright, you guys are brilliant! You nearly doubled the amount of reviews I asked for to get the title, well done! Keep of the brilliant reviews, and in the meantime, something for you to sit on.**

**As Promised:**

_Teddy Lupin and the Return of the Phoenix_

**Starring Teddy and all his new friends, as well as the possibility of someone dead having come back to life, a death or two, a couple of births, a wizarding plague, a ****_returning phoenix_****... Nothing that interesting, right? The Order may or may not come into play, I haven't decided, but that's not the point behind the title. If anyone has anything minor they'd like to see incorperated, I'm open to suggestions. You know where the review button is!**

**The other thing- Someone finally called me on the mistake I was well aware I'd made from the first draft, but couldn't really find any way around making: Why is Jessica referred to as Mrs. Black, as she never married Sirius? **

**My Answer? I'm afraid I don't really have one, other than the fact that I needed something to grab Harry's attention. Perhaps her name was Black already, or perhaps it was some appallingly long, hard to spell last name that she welcomed any chance to change it. I haven't really thought to ask her, it always seems rude to go about interrogating my charachters when they fall into my head. Laugh at me some other time.**

**Mrs. Black makes something of an appearence in the next story as well... just thought I'd mention...**


	23. TheArbitrary Behaviorof Sylalaster-Black

_Dear Teddy,_

_Professor McGonagall owled us, and she must have a faster owl than you do, as it got here just hours after yours did. Congratulations on making Gryffindor! Ginny and I are so proud of you, and-_

"Harry, don't forget to tell him, alright? We're not waiting until Christmas- Oh, tell him I said congratulations as well!"

_I think she would like to write something as soon as I'm done. It was wonderful to hear that you've made new friends. That Joshua sounds like a bit of a character-_

**_He sounds like Ron!_**

_It would appear Ginny has gotten her own quill, as I knew she eventually would. _

**_Spend more time with Aiden, wouldn't you, Teddy love? He sounds a bit more calm-_**

_Ginny, did you actually read that letter from Professor McGonagall? _

**_He just got a bit lost in the corridors and tripped! Not that big a deal, Harry!_**

_You actually believed that? You could tell the Headmistress didn't._

**_But-_**

_James! Give that quill to your mother!_

DEER TEDDY I MISS YOU PLEASE CO ME BACK COM E BACK TOO ME SO ON OR IL BE E MAD LO VE JA M ES

_And I'm sorry to hear that children are teasing you about your parents. The best you can do right now is keep your head held high and ignore it. If they don't think it's affecting you, they'll likely lay off._

**_I'd recommend wearing a hat to classes, too, if you're going to "Act like you don't care"._**

_That… About your hair…_

**_I'd use a few curses, Ted. Hit 'em with a good one early, so they learn better than to mess with a Lupin!_**

_Ginny!_

**_Harry!_**

_I'd sort of prefer you didn't land yourself in detention, Teddy. Let me know if they continue bothering you, and I might have a solution for you at Christmas._

**_Harry… you're not going to do what you think you're going to do, are you?_**

_Maybe, maybe not._

**_Oh, and Teddy, I'll teach you the bat-bogey hex when you come back for Christmas as well!_**

_GINNY!_

**_HARRY! Didn't we have something else to tell him as well?_**

_Oh! Oh Merlin, that's right. Well, Teddy they're might be another surprise at Christmas this year-_

**_Harry! Let me!_**

_Don't shove me!_

**_Don't steal my news! Anyway, Teddy, we wanted to tell you before we let anyone else know._**

_Are you going to tell him, or not?_

**_Shut it! Anyway, Teddy, how would you feel about having a little sister?_**

_We don't know it's a girl._

**_Maybe you don't, but I do!_**

_A word to the wise, Teddy. Should you ever get a woman pregnant- Merlin, that's a scary thought. Not anytime soon, alright? But should you, beware the hormones! It's ridiculous!_

**_Harry James Potter… Start running._**

_Yes dear! And Teddy, according to Professor McGonagall, the other night went very well, and I was glad to hear you're adjusting. _

DEER TEDDY CAN YO U MACKE MU M AND DADDY LET ME YU SE YOR BROOM BECU SS THEY WONT LISS EN WHEN I SAY YOU DON'T CARE LOVE JAMES

**TEDD ALBUS**

**_Yes, Al, you can almost write the alphabet now. I'm sure Teddy is proud, but give Daddy back the quill…_**

_Since when did writing a letter become a communal event?_

**_Since we started writing to Teddy, obviously._**

_Obviously. I think that pretty much sums this up… Oh, Tell Mathew and Erin their mother is quite proud and can't wait for a letter._

**_Love you, Teddy Bear. We hope to hear from you again!_**

_Always have to have the last word, don't you?_

**_Yes._**

**_Love,_**

_Harry_

**_Ginny_**

JAMES

**ALBUS**

**_P.S._**

**_We'll send your jumper later this week, you left it in the car._**

_P.P. S_

_James wishes me to tell you- Oh, I guess he'll do it himself._

DEER TED DY CAN YOU P LEASE SEND ME YOUR GOB STONES TO USE SOMET IMES

I PORMISE I WILL NOT THROW THEM ANYMOOR

JU ST TI THEM TO O THE OWL AND ILL SEND THEM BACK LATER WHEN IM DONE LOVE JAMES

* * *

Friday night found the Gryffindor first years fiddling with complicated knobs as they assembled the stands to their telescopes at the top of one of Hogwarts' highest towers. No teacher was in sight, but something about the atmosphere presented by the chilly winds blowing from over the lake and the cool, clear night felt foreboding, and there was only the quietest of murmurs amongst the students. This near-silence was broken abruptly by a series of muffled crashes from beneath the trapdoor they had used to enter the tower. Alarmed, the eleven year olds glanced around at each other before Teddy took a hesitant step forward and tugged it open. Revealed was a tower of boxes that appeared for a moment to be floating in mid-air before they lurched towards him suddenly. Startled, Teddy grabbed for the top few, preventing them from falling back down the passage as the man supporting them balanced the remaining in his arms and climbed the last steps up through the floor in a remarkably dignified manner, setting his share of the boxes down upon the floor before lifting the ones Teddy had taken from his grasp and setting them down beside the others without a word. Keeping his back to the class, the teacher, who Teddy recalled to be Professor Sylaster-Black, set about rummaging in the boxes and muttering indistinguishably to himself, and Teddy took a few steps back, taking a moment to examine the man.

He was tall, around six feet, Teddy thought. He wore sweeping bottle-green robes, tightened around the waist with a broad black belt. His dark, grey-streaked hair was crinkled, and fell past his shoulders in waves. He also appeared to be wearing black, tight fitting boots- like riding boots.

Moments later, he had still not turned around, but whatever he was doing seemed to be aggravating him greatly, for he worked with sharp, jerky motions, muttering under his breath all the while.

Minutes passed, and no student spoke. Eventually, slight hisses of whispering broke out, and seconds later, Amber Kelheller took a few measured steps to stand a respectable distance from the professor. "Um… sir? Do you need any hel-,"

"QUIET!" he roared, whipping around and setting his hair flying behind him, his silver eyes shining madly.

The entire class jumped. Amber ducked her head and retreated to the back of the room, turning slightly red and looking as though she might cry. Professor Sylaster-Black seemed unaffected, going back to his work with increased muttering.

Another quarter of an hour ticked by.

Finally, without saying a word, the professor turned to face the class. In his arms was held reverently a sparkling glass dome of magnificent proportions, and in the dome, minute balls of fire glittered. No one spoke.

He strode forward to the middle of the floor and placed the dome on a small round table in the center of the room. At a tap from his wand, the sides retracted into the base, and the stars expanded, growing larger until many snitch sized balls of flame burned in mid-air amongst the students, who instinctively backed away despite the fact that no heat at all seemed to radiate from the balls. And with that, Professor Sylaster-Black took what appeared to be a small metal wand and used the strong red beam of light emitting from it to draw lines between the stars, speaking in a dangerously low voice and pausing only to snap at any student who so much as breathed loudly.

By the end of the period, Teddy knew more about stars and constellations than he'd ever expected to learn on his first day, but he also felt threatened. What sort of a jerk was that man?

* * *

"What sort of a jerk was that guy?" Mathew asked, half asleep at breakfast the next morning.

"I don't know," Joshua replied next to him, sleepily brushing a shock of mousy brown hair out of his eyes, "But he's got to sort some things out. I mean, yelling at a kid like that…"

Dylan glanced over from his seat at the Ravenclaw table just behind them, raising a thin blond eye-brow. "Who?" he asked curiously, "Professor Beekman?"

"No," Teddy replied with a shudder, "Professor Sylaster-Black."

"And you called him a jerk?" Dylan asked incredulously, "He's got to be the nicest Professor I've ever met."

Joshua snorted. "Good one," he replied, "But really, what do you think of him?"

Dylan stared. "I wasn't joking," he said off-handedly. "I thought he was great. His lesson was fantastic, and he made all sorts of jokes and messed around with us, and then he passed out chocolate frogs at the end, told us we'd need the caffeine if we wanted to stay awake for Tuesday's classes."

"He what?" Russell asked.

"Is he playing house favorites or something?" Teddy asked.

"He was a Slytherin," Aiden replied.

"How do you know?" Joshua challenged.

"Why does it matter how he knows?" Erin defended, glaring.

"It matters if he's right or not," Josh shot back.

"He's Aiden," Erin snapped. "Of course he's right."

"He's not God's gift to Hogwarts, he's got to be wrong sometimes!"

"Actually," Aiden coughed, looking rather uncomfortable, "It's usually Merlin's gift, you know, with wizards, and thanks for the confidence, Erin, but I'm not some sort of genius. It's just posted outside the staff-room which teachers work with each house, and he's like the deputy-head of Slytherin or something. I passed it on my way to the owlery the other day."

"Oh," Josh said feebly. A moment later, he offered, "Sorry."

Erin sort of glared at him, before Teddy said hastily, "Don't fight. We're all tired, right? But it's Saturday today, what are we going to do?"

Erin brightened considerably. "We could go to the library."

Teddy didn't think this was all that bad of an idea, and Aiden perked up as well, but Elliot looked wary, Russell grimaced, and Josh exclaimed, "Heck no!"

At the look on Erin's face at this last, Mathew panicked slightly. "Or not, you know, it's such a nice day outside. Maybe some of us could go later, when it's supposed to rain, and now we could… we could…"

"We could go see Hagrid!" Teddy piped up, as eager as Mathew to avoid a disagreement.

"See who?" Josh asked, distracted.

"Rubeus Hagrid, he was a friend of Harry's at school," Teddy said.

"He's the Care of Magical Creatures teacher too, when we get to third year," Mathew added.

"I like animals," Elliot chipped in unexpectedly.

"Hagrid's it is, then," Teddy said cheerfully.

The strange mood-swings of Professor Aquarius Sylaster-Black appeared to have quite slipped their minds, though if anything was certain, it was that it wouldn't be for long.


	24. Winged Leopards and House Elves

Knock-Knock

Knock-Knock-Knock

"Do you think he's home?"

KnockKnockKnock

_KnockKnockKnockKnockKnockKnock_

"I think that's enough, Joshua!"

"Who says, Erin? Let me be!"

"That's rude!"

"Who cares? He's obviously not home-,"

"Heh? Who're you lot?"

Teddy lit up as the door swung open a crack, revealing a man at least three times his height.

"Hey Hagrid!"

"Teddy? How're yeh doin? It's brilliant ter see yeh, haven't since las' Christmas at least… just the fella I was lookin' fer, actually. And who's this lot?"

"My friends, Hagrid. You've met Mathew and Erin, right? And then this is Aiden Petrack,"

Aiden sort of smiled off-handedly-

"Elliot Moore,"

Elliot ducked his head-

"Russell Lawrence,"

Russell beamed-

"and Josh Lopez."

Joshua waved.

"Good ter meet yeh. You lookin fer sommat intrestin ter do, is that it?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Teddy replied.

"Well, that's just grand, 'cause I need yer help."

Joshua instantly looked apprehensive, but Teddy knew better. "What do you need, Hagrid?" he asked.

In response, Hagrid swung the door open a little wider and ushered them inside, one at a time, slamming it quickly behind them as a small, black ball of fur the size of Teddy's fist rolled towards it.

The group immediately crouched down to the floor, where several other small animals were revealed, all different colors.

A gold ball of fluff made its way over to Teddy, unsteady on four tiny paws, and settled into his lap. Laughing slightly, Teddy scooped it up and examined it. "What are these, Hagrid?" he asked.

It was only about the size of his fist, and looked to be a kitten of some sort, the color of buttercups and with very soft fur and wide eyes. However, when he stroked it, he felt his fingers brush miniscule knobs near its shoulder blades.

"Wings," Hagrid explained at his perplexed look. "They're Tentiges. A bit o' a cross bet'ween leopards an' somethin' that flies, I reckon. Mite be part kneazle."

"Tentiges?" Aiden asked, "They're not in_ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, are they?"

Hagrid coughed slightly, "Not technically, no. Not ye', at least. Bu' I was wonderin' if yeh lot would like to name em."

"Sure," Teddy said brightly, cuddling his tentige. "What to call you…"

"Can I name mine Warrior?" Josh asked excitedly, examining the one nearest him, which appeared to be coal black. "That's a neat name. Or Saber. Or Darth Vader, like in the movie."

Mathew snorted. Both were muggle-raised.

He had a chocolate brown one perched on his shoulder.

"Hagrid," Elliot asked softly, so softly, in fact, that it took four tries for the half-giant to hear him. "What's the matter with this little one?"

Elliot had found a towel-lined cardboard box at the corner of Hagrid's hut. Inside, at the very back corner, was a light grey one with black spots and rings, like a snow leopard.

"Thas' a runt, Elliot," Hagrid told him gently. "Don' reckon its gon ter make it, that. All 'is brothers and sisters er cramming 'im, keepin' him from the food an' the like."

"You mean he'll die?" Elliot asked. "Just because everyone else is bigger, he's going to die?"

Teddy himself was so stricken, he barely registered that was the most he'd ever heard Elliot say at once.

"That's not very fair," Mathew observed urgently.

"It's nature, too, Matt," Hagrid informed him.

Mathew made a face. He had never appreciated any shortened form of Mathew.

"Would he get better if someone really took good care of him?" Elliot asked desperately.

"He might," Hagrid said, "But no one got the time or energy, round 'ere."

"We could do it," Russell declared.

Hagrid laughed. "Wit all yer school work? I don' think so."

And the matter seemed forgotten.

The seven stayed for tea though, at Teddy's whispered warnings, declined the rock cakes.

When the group left, Hagrid did a quick head count of the Tentiges, just to make sure none had slipped out after them. Russell's reddish-brown one, christened Rusty, Joshua's black, Warrior, Teddy's gold, Sagittarius, Mathew's brown, Padfoot, Aiden's grey, Shadow, Erin's white, Spirit, and the four left over, a copper called Firebolt, a cobalt called Comet, a grey and white patched one named Shooting Star (Star for short, Teddy had insisted), and a dark grey called Nimbus. But that was only eleven. Where was…

Hagrid glanced out the window, chuckling. Being cradled to the shoulder of the pale, curly haired boy called Elliot was barely visible the spotted cat.

"Think he'll be mad?" Russell asked once the group had scurried up to the boys' dormitory, the tiny, sleeping kitten concealed in Elliot's robes.

"Hagrid?" Josh asked. "Nah, he'll be okay. He didn't want it to die either, he just has too much other stuff to do to watch it all the time. That's why we'll take care of it, and once it's big and strong, we can give it back."

"What should we name it?" Russell said.

"I think we should let Elliot decide," Teddy said. "He's really the one who rescued it."

"I did sort of have a name, actually," Elliot supposed shyly. "Do you guys like Sylvester?"

"Sylvester?" Joshua said loudly.

The kitten, who had been sleeping on the nightstand between the beds of Elliot and Aiden, jumped slightly.

"Sly for short? Or Vester or something?" Teddy offered from his perch at the end of Aiden's bed.

"I like it," said Mathew, who was kneeling on Aiden's trunk at the foot of the bed.

"Me too," Aiden said.

"He's so tiny," Elliot reflected, mesmerized as he scooped the kitten into the palm of his hand. ""Sylvester? Sly?"

"How are we going to feed it?" Aiden asked.

"Cat food?" Josh suggested.

"I think they only drink milk, when they're that small," Teddy said, staring at it. "We could bring some back from the Great Hall after lunch and heat it up."

"How do we heat it up?" Mathew asked. "And what if it's hungry in the middle of the night?"

"Well, where does the food in the Great Hall come from?" Aiden asked.

They stared at each other. "It just appears out of nowhere, doesn't it?" Russell asked.

"That's impossible," Aiden said. "My Dad says all the time that you can't make sustenance from nothing. Mostly when I fancy a snack and he's trying to finish his writing, but still, I know it's true."

"So it has to come from somewhere…" Mathew said. "Kitchens, maybe?"

"House elves!" Teddy exclaimed.

They stared at him.

"My Aunt Hermione works in government, and she started SPEW and-,"

"She started to spew?" Josh said, cracking up.

Teddy blushed. "No- it's too hard to explain all of it, but part of the S.O.C.K.s Bill she passed in-,"

"Socks?" Russell asked.

"After Dobby was killed at Shell Cottage in the War- you know, never mind. I can't explain it. House elves work in the Hogwarts kitchens," Teddy said. "And the new door to the kitchens, I remember Harry brought home a picture from the dedication ceremony, has a picture of Dobby the house elf wearing mismatched socks and a tea cozy!"

They were still giving him incredibly strange looks. "The kitchen is behind a door with a painting of an elf wearing socks and a tea cozy?" Aiden said incredulously.

"You know about the S.O.C.K.s bill, right? Named after Dobby the Free, the war hero?"

"Yeah," Aiden said.

"Dobby worked in the kitchens, and it's not actually a door, it's a portrait, like the portrait of the Fat Lady."

"The house elf is a war hero because his socks don't match?" Josh asked.

"He's a hero because he saved my godfather's life, it's not a joke!" Teddy snapped.

"How'd he save his life?" Russell asked, looking mesmerized.

Teddy hung his head, ashamed at his outburst. "I don't know," he admitted. "Harry's always been a bit vague."

"So it sounds like we know how to get into the kitchens," Mathew said quickly. "It's behind the portrait of the house elf- where?"

"The dungeons," Aiden replied instantly.

"How do you know?" Joshua asked.

"Do you always have to question how he knows everything?" Erin growled.

"Isn't this how we started the day?" Russell pointed out.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "The Great Hall is on the ground floor," he informed them. "It could only be in the dungeons."

"So let's go," Elliot said, standing. "Sylvester's hungry."

"Cool," Josh said, and everyone got to their feet. Elliot made sure the tentige had plenty of air in his pocket, and they set off down the staircase, through the common room, and out into the corridors.

Most of their fellow students appeared to be outside, so they ran into almost no one.

"So that's Dobby?" Mathew asked pensively, staring up at the six-foot oil painting of a blue-grey elf with eyes the size of tennis balls. He did indeed have mismatched socks; on was a plain black one that appeared to be coated in a sort of green slime, the other was bedecked with flashing gold and silver stars.

"There's no handle," Aiden observed.

"No, Harry made a speech about it," Teddy said. "You've got to-,"

He reached and tapped the gold and silver star sock with his wand. With a final flash it turned maroon, and the door swung open.

"The sock on his left foot changes patterns every five minutes anyway," Teddy whispered to the others as the scrambled through the door. Once they were in, their mouths dropped. They were surrounded by house elves, hundreds of them in all different colors, though they seemed to stick to earth tones, some with various tints to them.

Choosing at random, Teddy addressed one. It was among the shorter ones, not that there were any tall house elves, and it had a vaguely mossy tinge to its pale brown coloring, and wide eyes.

"Um… hello," he said.

"I is Toady, sir," the house elf informed him in a vaguely normal voice, normal for a house-elf, anyway. "How is I helping you today, sir?"

"We were wondering if we could have some warm milk," Teddy explained. "To help a cat-like thingy?"

Toady nodded enthusiastically. "Would sirs and madam be liking a bottle with which to feed the cat?"

"Oh! Yes please, er- Toady. Thank you very much."

"And I is Milky, sirs and madam. Would you be liking something to eat? Because Milky could provide for yous, if that is what yous would desire," a pale elf with floppy ears asked, dipping a bow.

"And I is Bobbin. I could be fixing sirs and madam a drink, ifs they are thirsty," said a larger one the bluish grey of a stone.

"I is helping!" A tiny house elf piped up. "I is Pinky, and I and Teager and Huff and Keebles would be pleased to help sirs and madam!"

Three more rushed up to join him. Pinky, true to his name, had a slightly rose-ish hue.

"I is Huff!" Volunteered the grey-brown one.

"Keebles," piped up the khaki.

"Teager," a tawny one added sagely.

"They is the younger ones," Offered a wise looking, wrinkled pale grey elf. "They is always eager to help, as a good elf always knows to be, though they is not accomplished at everything yet." He dipped a bow. "I is Jobb, Sirs and Madam. I is most pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Er- same to you," Aiden offered, extending his hand to shake. Jobb looked surprised.

"Sir is too kind," he acknowledged, dipping an even deeper bow.

"Here you is, Sirs and Madam," Milky and Toady said simultaneously. Above the pale one's head was thrust a silver tray laden with warm chocolate chip biscuits and milk, and above the other's an oddly shaped glass bottle full of cream colored liquid, which trickled down to a suctioned funnel at the end.

"Gee, Thanks!" Teddy exclaimed.

"Haven't you got a house-elf?" Aiden asked. "They do this sort of thing all the time, you know."

Teddy frowned. "We used to, but he was more than a bit old… I didn't see him much."

Aiden shrugged. "That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it? That you don't know it's there? We have one, Bazill. I still have to clean my room, though. Bazill's main job is to dust the books in my father's study- which, trust me, is an all afternoon job."

"Our family has five," Elliot said.

"Wow," Teddy said.

"They're mostly my parents'. I don't see them much." Elliot replied.

"The elves or your parents?" Russell asked.

"Either," Elliot said glumly. "Has Sly had enough milk?"

Teddy glanced at Toady, who had the tiny tentige curled up in on one hand and was allowing the contents of the bottle to drip into its mouth. "I think so… how often do they need to be fed?"

"We don't know much of anything about them, do we?" Russell said.

The others shook their heads. "We could look in the library," Aiden suggested. "It's probably about the same as a regular cat."

"Alright," Teddy said.

"If we have to," Russell agreed.

"I-I think I'd rather stay here," Elliot said uncomfortably.

"Come on, we can bring him," Teddy said.

"Yeah," Josh said, "If I'm going, you have to."

Elliot stood warily.

"What's wrong?" Erin asked him.

"I-I'm- nothing," Elliot said, staring at his feet.

"Are you sure?" Teddy asked.

Elliot nodded quickly, then stooped to pick up Sylvester. "Thank you so much," he said to Toady, with a quick nod to the others.

They bowed simultaneously, and Teddy grinned uncomfortably.

"To the library?" Erin said happily.

"To the library," Teddy said with a nod, but he glanced back at Elliot and Sylvester, wondering.


	25. Broomsticks and Thestrals

**You did it! 100 Reviews! Thanks to my Anonymous 100th reviewer, and Pearl Contana- 101, as well as everyone else who reviews consistantly! This one's for you!**

* * *

Teddy and Elliot sat side by side on the floor against the far wall of the library, each hunched over heavy tombs, staring intently at the page as the others continued to search. But Teddy's eyes wandered, and he glanced at Elliot, who had pulled a long, thin sheet of card-stock out of the pocket of his robe and was moving it down the page as he squinted at each line, tilting his head differently every few seconds.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one who had noticed.

"What's up, Gryffindork?" a dark haired boy, sixth or seventh year by the looks of him, jeered, snatching the book, paper and all, out from under him. "Need glasses? Or are you just too stupid to read?"

Teddy jumped to his feet and saw, to his surprise, that the boy had on Ravenclaw robes.

"Leave him alone!" he snapped.

The boy looked mildly startled, but then sneered, "Make me!"

Teddy drew his wand.

A girl nearby, tall and blonde, also with Ravenclaw robes, looked up warningly. "_Bobby_," she moaned.

But the boy- Bobby- just laughed. "Curse me then, runt."

And instantly, from behind a shelf, came Mathew and Erin. And Aiden from the far corner. And Josh and Russell, from where they had been sulking near the door.

But it was Teddy who cast the spell, and the boy, laughing even harder, never saw it coming. "Petrificus Totalus!"

The boy's legs locked together, his arms snapping to his side, rigid as a board, his laughter gone, his face instead frozen into a look of pure shock.

The girl, who looked quite familiar, rolled her eyes and cast Teddy a thumbs up. "Good one," she said with a brief smile. "Hi, Russell."

"Hi Cathy," Russell said, blushing slightly. "Guys, this is Cathy Prete. She- er- helped me find my way to Transfiguration the other day."

"You can go," she told them. "I won't rat you out for dueling outside of class. He totally deserved it. And I can drag him back to the common room. If he has time to go around picking on first years, he's done studying."

"Hm hm-hm-hm hmhmm hmh h?" Bobby said indignantly, his face still frozen.

"What sort of a girlfriend am I? Well, you're not likely to find out if you don't shape up, Robert Cahill," Cathy informed him bluntly. With a flick of her wand, she levitated him a few feet above the ground and began heading for the door with a cheery wave to Madam Pince, the librarian.

And Teddy turned to Elliot, whose white-blonde head was ducked and appeared on the verge of tears.

"It's okay," Teddy told him.

"I'm dyslexic," Elliot said abruptly. "It's a learning disorder that makes reading and comprehension difficult. I don't need glasses, I'm not stupid, and I _can_ read!"

"Okay," Teddy said again. He paused a moment, fishing for something else to say, then decided upon; "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Elliot hesitated. "Just… just let me do things at my own pace, please."

"Not a problem," Teddy replied. "Do the teachers know?"

Elliot nodded. "They've been really understanding… mostly, anyway."

Mathew glanced around and mouthed, "Professor Beekman?"

"Yeah," Elliot said. "But not really anything too bad."

"You'll tell us if he bothers you, won't you?" Erin asked.

"Of course," Elliot said.

"Don't we have flying lessons after lunch?" Russell asked.

"Yeah!" Josh exclaimed. "And it's lunch time!"

"Let's go!" Teddy said, grinning, and the group left the library eagerly.

* * *

"Ever been on a broom before?" Russell asked the group in general, sounding somewhat nervous as they made their way down across the grassy green grounds to the looming Quidditch Pitch.

"Plenty of times, at Teddy's house," Mathew replied, jogging slightly to keep his balance, as they were descending a steep slope.

"It's so much fun!" Erin said.

"My Dad uses his solely for traveling purposes," Aiden said, "But he lets me have a spin on it once in a while. It's amazing, but I almost never get to do it."

"How about you, Elliot? You're pureblood, aren't you?" Joshua asked.

"Yes," Elliot said meekly. "But I've never actually been on a broom. My Nanny doesn't like flying much at all."

"Your Nanny? Whoa-," Josh steadied himself, narrowly avoiding going head over heels down a rocky patch of the hill.

"She watches me while my parents are at work," Elliot exclaimed. "Careful, Teddy!- How about you, Katie?"

Katie Wood was hiking beside Erin, her dark blonde ponytails swinging as she jogged.

"You're asking the daughter of _Oliver Wood_ if she's ever been on a broom before?" Katie snorted.

"Oh- yeah," Elliot said, cringing. "Sorry."

"Not at all," she replied.

At that moment, they reached the pitch, and upon their entrance, a whistle blew.

"Assemble, students!" A voice called loudly, and Teddy glanced around to see a tall, slim woman in referee robes, her dark braid slung over her shoulder and a cumbersome wooden box tucked under one arm. "Everyone, grab a broom, please. It doesn't matter which you take, they're all rubbish! Line up and wait quietly!"

Minutes later, when Teddy was standing between Mathew and Erin, a broom on the ground at his feet, she strode up and joined them, a handful of older students trailing behind.

"I'm Alicia Spinnet," she introduced, "And with me today are Captain Mortimer Phillips and Trey Martin of the Gryffindor team, and Captain Shane Douglas and Cathal Abercrombie of the Slytherin team. They tell me they want to keep an eye out for potential talent here, so no fooling around. "

Teddy waved slightly at Trey, the fifth year Gryffindor prefect, he remembered- the one always squabbling with Elizabeth Coleman. Trey winked in response, then jerked his head at Madam Spinnet, urging Teddy to pay attention.

"No, stand alongside your brooms, first years, extend your right hands over them, and say 'Up!'. On three… One, Two, Three!"

"Up!" the class chorused, and Teddy was pleased, though not entirely surprised, to find his broom flying up and hitting his palm roughly. He grasped it and glanced surreptitiously around at the others. Mathew and Erin both had hold of their brooms, as did Katie, Aiden and Josh. On the other side of the line, little Cory Frost and snooty Pierce Freeman were holding theirs as well, the former looking mildly surprised, though the emotion slid off his face quickly, the latter smug. A few other girls gripped theirs as well, a blonde haired girl Teddy remembered being called Rory Cade, a brunette who might have been Kendra Mullet, and another he couldn't quite place.

Those whose brooms had merely lurched, twitched, or not moved at all appeared a bit put out, but Madam Spinnet didn't appear to have expected anything better. "Try again. One… Two… Three!"

It took several more tries before everyone had hold of their broomsticks, but once they did, Madam Spinnet called, "Alright, swing your right leg over the broom. You there-Ms. Aarnol? That's backwards… Get seated comfortably, and look up at me when you're ready."

Teddy shifted, bored beyond belief. Moments later, she instructed, "Plant your feet firmly on the ground, grip your broom with both hands, and push off from the ground with your toes. I'd like you to rise about five feet in the air, hover a moment, then tilt the handle of your broom slightly to come down."

Teddy did so, smiling at the familiar rush of take-off, even if it was much slower than he was accustomed to.

"Very good! You're the first class I've had in four years where no one's fallen off their brooms! Well done! Are we ready to go a little higher?"

"Yeah!" Josh chanted from somewhere near the back of the line. A few girls giggled.

"Great! Push off a little harder this time, and tip the handle of your broom very slightly upwards. Stop when you reach about ten feet, and come back down- slowly!"

They repeated the exercise a few more times, each time taking the broom a little higher.

Next they flew to one end of the pitch and back at a fairly low level, and they were preparing for a second trip, this time at thirty feet.

Teddy shot up off the ground- perhaps a little bit faster than he was supposed to have, and was swinging the handle towards the opposite end of the pitch when he heard the scream. Moments, later, something huge was hurtling through the air towards him.

Instinctively, he applied one of his favorites of the moves Harry taught him- the sloth grip roll, gripping the broom tightly upside-down as the monstrous, skeletal dark shape soared over him.

"What was that?" a voice shrieked, following it.

"The sloth grip roll!" Another shouted back. "Way to show off, Lupin!"

Teddy, now seated upwards again, stared after the airborne animal, which appeared to be a winged horse of the sort he'd never seen before, bony and emaciated, its leathery wings as big as a dragon's.

He gripped his broom and glanced uncertainly towards Madam Spinnet, who had gone very pale. Her whistle screamed, and she shouted, "Everyone, on the ground _now_!"

The first years made to land, but Pierce Freeman, who, from the looks on his face had seen the horse, just as Teddy had, gave every appearance of wanting to get away from the area as quickly as possible and wheeled his broom off in the other direction.

"Pierce!" Teddy shouted after him. "Wait! There's more than-!"

But the blonde boy didn't appear to hear him, he was rocketing off towards the Forbidden Forest, and, out of the corner of his eye, Teddy saw the horse make a U-turn.

"Pierce!" Teddy cried in warning, but it couldn't have been plainer he was stopping for no one.

Logically, Teddy should have left it to Madam Spinnet, but he wasn't thinking clearly. He nearly flattened himself against the handle of his broom, flying towards his bully as quickly as he possibly could, even as the horse veered sharply, looping around Pierce.

Pierce flinched away, which wasn't really something you could afford to do on a broom and sure enough, moments later, he was falling.

Teddy felt his hands leave the room as he urged it downwards in a sort of dive, and he swung the handle at just the right moment, only yards away from the ground, to position himself directly under the screaming, falling Slytherin.

Less than a second later, Pierce was on top of him, and both fell towards the ground, Teddy just managing to keep a grip on the back of the other boy's robes as he grabbed onto the side of his broomstick with the other.

Both boys hit the ground hard, but they landed on their feet, and a cheer rose up from the few students who had had time to realize what was happening.

Wincing, Teddy straightened up, wiggling the impact pains out of his shins. "What _was_ that thing?" he asked Madam Spinnet, but she didn't appear to hear; she was already shrieking at him.

"Lupin, are you mad? You could have been killed!"

"But I wasn't! And I couldn't let Pierce fall, could I?" Teddy asked, rubbing his ankle. He rather suspected it was twisted…

Pierce rounded on him. "You… you set that thing on me!" he accused.

Teddy started at him, nonplused. "I…. what?"

"You- you set him on me! You shouted at it, and then it went after me!" He shouted, pointing accusatorily at him.

"Why would I do that?" Teddy asked, kneeling defensively.

"You hate me!"

"Yeah, well, you spend half your life teasing me," Teddy reminded him. "And if I hated you, or I set that horse thing after you, why would I practically jump off my broom to save you?"

"Who knows?" Pierce snarled. "You're a little mutant freak, aren't you? Stay away from me!"

"I've never done anything to you!" Teddy shouted indignantly. "You stay away from me!"

"Enough!" Madam Spinnet said. "Both of you are on grounds for expulsion!"

The two boys turned to stare at her, mouths gaping.

"And Mr. Freeman, I can understand it perfectly if you were scared by the Thestrals, but that is no reason to take it out on Mr. Lupin. Apologize."

"No!" Pierce snapped.

"Yes," Madam Spinnet said dangerously. "Five points from Slytherin."

"I-_Sorry_," Pierce spat, glaring at them.

"Thank you," she replied calmly. "Now, is either of you hurt at all?"

Before Pierce could respond, Teddy asked quickly, "Madam Spinnet, what's a Thestral?"

"They're a type of flying horse that can only be seen by those who have seen someone die, Mr. Lupin."

Teddy frowned deeply, thinking back to the sight of his Gran, lying cold on the bed.

Taking in the expression on his face, Madam Spinnet said gently, "Let me take a look at that ankle."

As she bent down, Pierce exploded, "That's a lie!"

"Excuse me?" Madam Spinnet asked.

"I could see them, and I haven't seen nobody die! You're lying!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Freeman, but I'm afraid it's the truth," Madam Spinnet replied, her dark braid slipping over her shoulder.

Pierce kicked at the ground, his white blonde spikes a tangled mess, expression defiant. His hands were shoved deep into his robe pockets, and he looked almost- scared?

"If you aren't hurt at all, why don't you and your classmates head back up to the castle?" Madam Spinnet suggested. "I think that's quite enough flying for one day, and I'd like to speak to the headmistress about why the Thestrals are so far from the forest at this time of day."

Pierce nodded and turned back to the group, muttering, "Freak," under his breath to Teddy as he passed.

The others turned back to the castle, but Mathew, Erin, Aiden, Elliot, and Katie hung back, looking slightly concerned.

"Go on," Madam Spinnet instructed gently, "Mr. Lupin will be right along."

They shrugged and turned to leave, Mathew glancing worriedly over his shoulder.

"This way, Lupin," Madam Spinnet said, guiding him over to a row of benches outside the locker rooms. "I want a better look at that ankle."

As they turned, Teddy heard running footsteps. "Madam Spinnet! Madam Spinnet!"

She turned. "Trey?"

"That dive of his, that was pretty sweet, don't you reckon?" the fifth year asked eagerly, running a hand through his brown fringe.

She smiled slightly. "Indeed it was, Mr. Martin."

"And he had a pretty much textbook sloth grip roll earlier, wouldn't you say?"

"I might, yes, Mr. Martin."

"And he positioned himself almost perfectly under that Slytherin kid, didn't he?"

"Without a doubt, Mr. Martin."

"So d'you reckon he should try out for Chaser on the house team next year, Ma'am?" Trey said.

Madam Spinnet glanced skyward. "I'm sure that if he does, we'll support him to the fullest extent, Mr. Martin."

"Cause we're gonna have an empty spot, 'cause Mo's graduating."

"So I gathered, Mr. Martin. Although from what his head of house has told me, if he doesn't get his nose away from the quaffle and into a textbook, he'll be lucky to."

Trey snorted. "He can't be that bad, else they'd not have made him captain. But anyway, if we want Teddy for the team, could we try and give him a little extra training ahead of time?"

"That's why I am employed, Mr. Martin."

"But as something a little bit extra? To train him up?" Trey asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"What I'm trying to tell you, Mr. Martin, is that I cannot possibly give you permission to train a first year up to the team. It's strictly against the rules. Although Professor McGonagall has been known to bend them, that is only in extreme circumstances."

Trey's face fell almost comically, and Teddy felt rather disappointed as well.

"However," Madam Spinnet said with a wry smile, "On a completely unrelated note, coming from the teacher in charge of the Pitch records, the pitch happens to be open on Monday afternoons before dinner because Seventh years are taking N.E.W.T. preparation courses, which takes out several older players."

"Oh!" Trey said. "And on a completely unrelated note from your comment on the open period for the Pitch, would you happen to still have that _Which Broomstick_ Order form in your office?"

Madam Spinnet pursed her lips, obviously concealing a smile. "I just might. On a completely unrelated note, I highly recommend the Galaxy 700 just in stores- it's not a Professional Standard broom, but it might just accomplish a number of purposes- none to do with Gryffindor team, of course."

"Brilliant," Trey replied easily, "And in the meantime, would the key to your broom shed still be hanging on the peg inside the door to your office? On a note completely unrelated to Teddy Lupin, obviously."

"That it is," She said, "And, on an obviously unrelated topic, I might imply that I'm having a lunch meeting with Professor McGonagall tomorrow to discuss Quidditch-related expenses, and if the topic of a hypothetical Galaxy 700 for a first year student comes up, then I may just request that she budget it in. It's an alarmingly cheap type of broomstick, you know, and excellent quality. I'm sure she wouldn't object- there are lots of uses it could be put to."

"Brilliant!" Trey exclaimed. "And on a note that actually has nothing to do with anything at all, could you see if you could get me a new pair of Keepers gloves? Mine are almost worn through, and Mum's dead annoyed because she just got me shin guards…"

"I'll see what I can do," Madam Spinnet replied with a wide grin.

"Thanks!" Trey beamed. "Oh- and Teddy? _Great _job!"

"Thanks, Trey," Teddy said happily.

"Should you happen to wander down to the pitch the day after tomorrow," Trey said with a wink, "I plan on taking a bit of a walk with my broomstick after Study Hall."

"Neat!" Teddy said. "I might just be seeing you."

"That you might," Trey replied, and jogged off towards the castle with a wave.

"That boy," Madam Spinnet chuckled, continuing to walk with Teddy, then seating him on one of the benches. "Alright, let's see," she crouched down, rolling up his right pant leg and slipping the trainer off.

"Looks a bit swollen," she muttered, rolling down his sock.

Teddy, staring down at the roots of her dark hair, had a thought. "Professor," he said slowly, "Those Thestrals…"

She glanced up at him kindly. "What about them, Teddy?"

"You can see them too?"

Her expression seemed a bit wary as she nodded. "I can, yes, Teddy."

Seeing him hesitate, she said, "You want to know why?"

"Er-," Teddy said guiltily.

"I don't mind," she replied. "I fought in the battle of Hogwarts with your parents, Teddy. And your godfather, and the Weasleys, and anyone else you care to mention. Anyone who can't see Thestrals after that day was wandering around with their wand out and their eyes shut tight."

She felt his ankle carefully on both sides, thinking a moment before saying, "I played Quidditch with Harry as well, Teddy."

"You did?" he asked.

"Not broken," she muttered, "Maybe slightly sprained."

She tapped his foot gently with her wand, and the edge went off the pain, which had never been terrible in the first place.

"Take it easy today and tomorrow," she instructed, "And if it really starts to hurt, go and see Madam Pomfrey, alright?"

Teddy nodded, then paused. It didn't seem like she was done.

She stared at Teddy with deep brown eyes, then smiled gently. "We used to tease your godfather about his 'saving-people-thing'," she told him. "It's not a terrible thing to be, but after seeing you today, I have to warn you." She leaned a little closer, whispering, "Don't fall down the same hole, Teddy. Don't get hurt."

Teddy stared back at her, frowning. Finally, he promised, "I'll be careful."

She stood, giving his ankle a final pat. "Good."


End file.
